32 Week "Placental Localisation" Scan

ShaShaBear

I have my last (second) scan tomorrow, and the letter of appointment states its labelled as "Placental Localisation". I know this may fall into the realm of medical advice, so apologies to mods in advance but no one else seems to know and Google is coming up moot.

What exactly is this scan, what does it entail, what are they looking for exactly and what information can I expect to gleam from it?

January

They're basically checking that the placenta is not blocking the cervix.

Where your placenta is located can have an effect on your labour. Google placenta previa.

ShaShaBear

January wrote: »

They're basically checking that the placenta is not blocking the cervix.

Where your placenta is located can have an effect on your labour. Google placenta previa.

Ah I see! I was told at a private scan at 30 weeks that it is well positioned and at the back, so hopefully there are no complications. It says on the letter I need a full bladder, but its like an auto print of what I got for my 12 week scan. Will I really?
A full bladder at this stage is nothing short of painful, especially with any baby movements and I'll more than likely wet myself if a sonographer presses down on me at all

January

I'd go with a full bladder and that way you can empty it before the appointment if needed.Although I've never needed a full bladder for any scan after 20 weeks.

Chattastrophe!

I definitely wouldn't bother with a full bladder that far on! The uterus is waaay above it by now, it won't make the slightest difference. If in doubt, give the hospital a quick ring in the morning to check, but I'd say it's a case that the letters all contain the same instructions regardless of what stage you're at.

As you already know that the placenta is OK, I wouldn't be expecting any new info - just enjoy the scan! It's always fun to have a quick peek in there!

ShaShaBear

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

I definitely wouldn't bother with a full bladder that far on! The uterus is waaay above it by now, it won't make the slightest difference. If in doubt, give the hospital a quick ring in the morning to check, but I'd say it's a case that the letters all contain the same instructions regardless of what stage you're at.

As you already know that the placenta is OK, I wouldn't be expecting any new info - just enjoy the scan! It's always fun to have a quick peek in there!

I love looking, it's amazing to see how much she has grown - when I got my first scan she was only about 2 inches big on the screen, and now her head takes up most of it!!
Maybe they'll confirm my suspicions that I'm going to go early, but I doubt it :P

Suucee

I had a placenta localisation scan at 37 weeks. Deff didnt need full bladder. But as been said already maybe just ringvto be sure. Best of luck.

January

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I love looking, it's amazing to see how much she has grown - when I got my first scan she was only about 2 inches big on the screen, and now her head takes up most of it!!
Maybe they'll confirm my suspicions that I'm going to go early, but I doubt it :P

They can't really tell, you'll have some docs saying you might go but it's all guesswork.

Chattastrophe!

The day I went into labour, I had a hospital appointment at 8am. I was having regular pains on the train into town for the appointment, I was six days overdue at the time. I was literally having contractions while getting my mini-scan that morning, the doctor still set up an appointment for induction a week later. I got the bus out home, still having regular contractions, and disappointed that it didn't look like it was going anywhere. A couple of hours later, I was getting a taxi into town, and a couple of hours after that, baby had arrived!

So I really wouldn't expect a scan to give an indication of when you'll give birth!

ShaShaBear

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

The day I went into labour, I had a hospital appointment at 8am. I was having regular pains on the train into town for the appointment, I was six days overdue at the time. I was literally having contractions while getting my mini-scan that morning, the doctor still set up an appointment for induction a week later. I got the bus out home, still having regular contractions, and disappointed that it didn't look like it was going anywhere. A couple of hours later, I was getting a taxi into town, and a couple of hours after that, baby had arrived!

So I really wouldn't expect a scan to give an indication of when you'll give birth!

I can only hope my labour is so nonchalant!

Chattastrophe!

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I can only hope my labour is so nonchalant!

Erm no it wasn't so nonchalant for those last couple of hours after arriving in hospital ... faster isn't always better!

By the way I was so convinced that I was going to go early that my manager had my replacement start a couple of weeks earlier than would be usual ... I still went a week over! I think with your first baby it's best to assume you'll go two weeks over, have that in your head as your "real" due date, and if you go sooner than that, great!

January

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Erm no it wasn't so nonchalant for those last couple of hours after arriving in hospital ... faster isn't always better!

By the way I was so convinced that I was going to go early that my manager had my replacement start a couple of weeks earlier than would be usual ... I still went a week over! I think with your first baby it's best to assume you'll go two weeks over, have that in your head as your "real" due date, and if you go sooner than that, great!

Or in my case your fourth :eek: I went on time with all the others but went 10 days over and was induced on number 4. It's true what they say about boys being lazy.

ShaShaBear

January wrote: »

Or in my case your fourth :eek: I went on time with all the others but went 10 days over and was induced on number 4. It's true what they say about boys being lazy.

She'll come out when I bloody welll tell her to... :P

I wish :pac:

Bump dropped yesterday, scared the bejaysus out of me!

Chattastrophe!

By the way there's a great birth stories thread somewhere on the forum, you should dig it out if you like hearing about others' experiences ... it's not for everyone, some would rather not know, but it helped me a lot as I like to prepare for every eventuality!

ShaShaBear

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

By the way there's a great birth stories thread somewhere on the forum, you should dig it out if you like hearing about others' experiences ... it's not for everyone, some would rather not know, but it helped me a lot as I like to prepare for every eventuality!

I've been reading them! I've been reading everything, and probably a bit too much. Was on the NHS website where it said the pushing stage takes at least an hour. I thought it was 5-20 minutes
Boy, did that knock the wind out of me - I haven't even had noticeable BHs yet!

Chattastrophe!

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I've been reading them! I've been reading everything, and probably a bit too much. Was on the NHS website where it said the pushing stage takes at least an hour. I thought it was 5-20 minutes
Boy, did that knock the wind out of me - I haven't even had noticeable BHs yet!

Ah mine was only maybe 7-8 minutes, for me the pushing was the easiest bit BY FAR!

ShaShaBear

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Ah mine was only maybe 7-8 minutes, for me the pushing was the easiest bit BY FAR!

I thought it would only be about that. I have the oddest pain threshold. I'm fine with a timeframe, but if it's indefinite, I panic
Contractions probably wouldn't bother me so much because I know they'll stop and I'll get a break whereas a constant headache would drive me demented!

I sound so naive :pac:

Chattastrophe!

I had the same thinking as you tbh. However, in my case anyways, the time between contractions was really not long at all, so just try to prepare yourself for that too! I'm the same with the timeframe - I relaxed once I started pushing, because I knew that within an hour it would all be over one way or another - with the contractions, they initially said it could be up to 24 hours! Could not have coped with that pain for anywhere near that long!

ShaShaBear

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

I had the same thinking as you tbh. However, in my case anyways, the time between contractions was really not long at all, so just try to prepare yourself for that too! I'm the same with the timeframe - I relaxed once I started pushing, because I knew that within an hour it would all be over one way or another - with the contractions, they initially said it could be up to 24 hours! Could not have coped with that pain for anywhere near that long!

I'm getting a tub in the birthing suite. They better have that thing locked and loaded by the time I get there :pac:

Roesy

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I'm getting a tub in the birthing suite. They better have that thing locked and loaded by the time I get there :pac:

The hot water helps alright. I was in and out of the shower like a blue arse fly and had a bath during labour too. Would have LOVED to go in the birthing pool but once you are induced in CUMH you are no longer considered a straight forward labour and can't use it.

Karmella

Roesy wrote: »

The hot water helps alright. I was in and out of the shower like a blue arse fly and had a bath during labour too. Would have LOVED to go in the birthing pool but once you are induced in CUMH you are no longer considered a straight forward labour and can't use it.

I thought that they didn't allow use of the birthing pools full stop in CUMH?

Merkin

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

Ah mine was only maybe 7-8 minutes, for me the pushing was the easiest bit BY FAR!

I'd consider myself an educated and worldly individual but until I actually got pregnant and read up a bit about labour, I honestly thought that you pushed in between contractions So for people who endure a 20-hour labour for example, I thought one just huffs and puffs for the duration. I kid you not. It's about one step up from believing that newborns are found under a cabbage patch.....!

January

ShaShaBear wrote: »

I've been reading them! I've been reading everything, and probably a bit too much. Was on the NHS website where it said the pushing stage takes at least an hour. I thought it was 5-20 minutes
Boy, did that knock the wind out of me - I haven't even had noticeable BHs yet!

Depends on the labour... my last pushing stage was about 10 minutes

Roesy

Karmella wrote: »

I thought that they didn't allow use of the birthing pools full stop in CUMH?

If you are low risk and your waters haven't broken you can use it for labour but you have to get out for pushing. That was the case in November when I had my little girl anyway.