Pregnancy complicated by placenta previa

Perinatal bleeding is being considered as one of the most actual topics in current perinatal medicine. Placenta previa is a complication that might lead to severe ante partum hemorrhage. Recently significant increase of caesarean section rate contributes to the augmentation of placenta previa incidence and recognition rate. The aim of the study was to determine incidence, diagnostic and therapeutic methods as well as prognosis for mother and fetus in pregnancy complicated by placenta previa. Ten years retrospective analysis included patients diagnosed with placenta previa and hospitalized in Obstetric and Gynecological Academic Hospital of Poznan University of Medical Sciences. Among population of delivering women 308 were diagnosed with placenta previa. We have found significant (p < 0.05) increase of placenta previa incidence in relation with increased parity. The study also revealed significant (p < 0.05) increase of placenta previa incidence with increasing number of prior caesarean section deliveries. There were no significant differences considering birth weight or other neonatal parameters between different types of placental localization. Conclusions confirmed that transvaginal ultrasound examination is a main diagnostic tool identifying abnormally localized placenta. Incidence of placenta previa is increasing among multiparous patients, especially with a history of previous caesarean deliveries. Maternal and fetal prognosis are satisfactory when patient is treated in a high reference hospital.