Placenta accreta experience

Hi there - I’m so sorry you’re going through this. This sounds incredibly stressful and agonizing. I also had a high risk pregnancy with my second (due to vasa previa), which was high risk for baby but not for me. I was in antepartum at Alta Bates for six weeks and then in postpartum for a week after our c section. Our daughter was in the NICU for 8 days. I received excellent care from the team at Alta Bates and was so grateful to live nearby (we live in North Oakland) so my partner, toddler and friends / family / neighbors could visit. We also considered delivering at UCSF and on the rec of our Alta Bates MFM, got a second opinion at UCSF. I was especially concerned about potentially needing the higher level NICU at UCSF.  Ultimately we decided to stick with our care team at Alta Bates and I’m so grateful that we did. I had a very complicated c section and Dr. Madhavan did a brilliant job. For us, we felt like the care team from Sutter / Alta Bates was able to appropriately address our complication and any potential benefit from the higher level NICU wasn’t worth being further away from my support system. Happy to chat more about this if helpful and sending my best wishes to you as you navigate this difficult time. Big hugs your way. 

Sending a big hug! I am so sorry you are going through this. I had a complete previa and was diagnosed with accreta in my 2nd pregnancy (my 1st resulted in a missed miscarriage). I was very scared and ended up being put on bed rest around 30 weeks when I went into early labor at work. Happy ending, I am OK, and my son was able to stay in my belly until just before 37 weeks and was also ok after some difficulty breastfeeding at first. I lived in San Francisco at the time, and went to UCSF for my care. I had to go to the hospital and deliver before my scheduled c-section when I started bleeding, and needed a blood transfusion after delivery, but it ended up I did not have accreta at all, and my placenta came out intact. I think it is very hard for them to actually tell if you have accreta, so they just prepared by having extra docs in the operating room and were ready to give me a transfusion if needed. While it was scary, it can be totally ok when the docs are prepared! I was in the hospital for 4 days and just had a normal c-section recovery. I prepared myself as much as possible for having to have a hysterectomy if that became necessary, but it wasn't, and I was able to get pregnant again and ended up going back to UCSF for my last pregnancy after we moved to Oakland because I felt more comfortable that they could handle the high risk situation. I don't know alta bates but I do feel like UCSF provides excellent care, and it was worth it to me to drive across the bridge to go back there again. You will be OK! I wish you the best - whatever you decide you are in a good place knowing in advance about these challenges. 

I’m so sorry you are going through this. My SIL had placenta accreta with her second kiddo.  They are both happy and healthy and thriving 5 years later. I was only an observer, but I know my SIL took comfort from knowing her doc had experience with placenta accreta. She delivered at a major hospital (not close to her house) that was fully prepared for her delivery. Travel to/from the NICU in the month-ish following the delivery was not ideal, but they got through it. There is so much stress with a diagnosis like this but you live in a place with the best medical care, and that makes all the difference. 

I'm so sorry you're having to navigate all this. Go to UCSF, don't wait. I had many complications during my pregnancy and transferred care three times and it was not until I got to UCSF that I felt safe. They are phenomenal. In the event you do need an extended stay in the area, social workers are there to help you find housing (often times at the Ronald McDonald or Family House). You are welcome to message me if you have other questions about UCSF, though I don't personally have experience with placenta accreta. Wishing you the best.

Hi there, I'm very sorry to hear you are going through this.  I don't have specific advice on Alta Bates vs UCSF as I have Kaiser, but wanted to share my experience as I also had PAS in my last pregnancy, and know it was hard because very few of my friends had even heard of it.  I did think it was helpful to have a team of MFM doctors that consult with each other (eg there were always multiple doctors looking at my ultrasounds) and importantly, have experience with PAS, and from that try to figure out how severe the case is, and when (and if, eg vs termination) they recommend delivery.  In my case because it was mild/moderate, they wanted to wait for more ultrasounds at 28, 32 weeks before making a final decision of when and how to deliver.  I delivered at Kaiser Santa Clara with someone who had lots of accreta experience, even though it was not the closest hospital.  I ended up with a scheduled C with hysterectomy at 35 weeks, baby was fortunately totally fine and we were out of the hospital quickly.  They did a pathology on the placenta afterwards and indeed it was pretty "accreted".  Blood loss is the biggest concern and they were prepared for possible transfusion in the OR.  I can absolutely sympathize with your concern for your life and serious side effects, as well as the thoughts of whether or not to keep the pregnancy, and hope that the next appointment(s) will help clarify the picture.

Hi, I'm very sorry you're going through this and although my case was a little different, I can relate to the total fear of losing the pregnancy, or dying myself and leaving my toddler without a mother.  I was diagnosed with complete placenta previa during my first pregnancy and had undetected "micro" placenta accreta which they only figured out after sending my placenta for biopsy after I my delivery.  It was a frightening experience and I thought I was perhaps going to die on the table while they dealt with the hemorrhaging.  My recovery both physically and mentally was rough.

My second pregnancy I was diagnosed with marginal vasa previa, and was under routine MFM care to also watch out for placenta accreta.  Though they never detected it, I was still pretty scared going into that c-section because of the surprise element the first time.  They were prepared for it this time though, and had blood on hand in the OR and we had already agreed on an immediate hysterectomy if there was any indication of accreta.  Luckily it was an uneventful procedure.

I had Kaiser, so not helpful there, but I did want to recommend searching for placenta accreta on Reddit if you're like me and wanted allllll the information.  It made me feel a lot better reading about other womens' experiences with it and getting idea of what to expect.  Good luck and I hope things improve on your next ultrasound!