A chill ran down my spine as I picked up today's Arizona Republic. On the cover, above the fold was an article,
"C-SECTIONS LINKED TO FUTURE BIRTH RISKS -- Doctors: Condition that imperils mother, baby on rise."
I knew exactly what this article was going to be about before diving into it. About a month ago, I was on my knees praying for a good friend of mine, Monica, who was on hospital-monitored bed rest and scheduled to deliver a baby girl at 35 weeks. Immediately following, she would undergo a delicate and potentially life threatening seven-hour surgery by a team of high-risk specialty surgeons.
Monica had not only been diagnosed with placenta previa, a relatively rare pregnancy complication where the placenta implants itself along the bottom of uterus, blocking the cervix and potentially causing excessive bleeding before or during delivery. An ultrasound late in her pregnancy had shown that the placenta was not only attached across the bottom of her uterus, it had also embedded itself so deep into her uterus that it was possibly attached to her bladder and other vital organs. This is known as placenta accreta, also rare.
Monica's doctors attributed the condition to scar tissue buildup as a result of two prior C-sections she'd had to deliver her first two children. Both of these C-sections were medically necessary.
I visited Monica in the hospital the day before her baby girl's early delivery (via C-section) and her surgery. While I was there, an oncologist surgeon stopped by to introduce himself to her as the latest member to join her surgical team. He had been called in because they were treating the placenta (and the removal of it) as a tumor, a foreign invader.
As he explained to Monica that they didn't really know the extent of the situation "until they go in" and the potential for excessive blood loss, etc., my friend, trying desperately (and unsuccessfully) to hold back her tears, told him, "Yes, I understand, but I'm trying to be positive."
"You could be the poster child for NOT having elective C-sections," he said, referring to the subsequent scar tissue as the culprit for the severity of the situation.
This is also the message in the
Arizona Republic article that reports C-sections are on the rise and so is accreta. While many C-sections are medically necessary and life saving, many are elective by moms-to-be who perceive them as more convenient or less painful than vaginal birth.
Do these women know the serious complications scar tissue from multiple C-sections can cause for future pregnancies? These complications can be life threatening -- not to mention fertility compromising -- for mom and for baby, who always has to be delivered early when accreta is diagnosed.
Monica was one of the lucky ones. Though her uterus had to be removed, she made it through the surgery to carry on as the strong, amazing mom that she is to her three children. And her baby girl is doing well too. Though she was released from the hospital at a later date than her mom due to her inability to eat on her own, she is now home and eating like a little trooper! I can't wait to see them both!
