image by: National Accreta Foundation

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California decided it was tired of women bleeding to death in childbirth

Kristen Terlizzi woke up on July 16, 2014, in the intensive care unit at Stanford University to the news that the placenta connecting her to the child she'd just given birth to had spread like a cancer through her abdomen.

Six weeks earlier, Terlizzi, then 32, had been diagnosed with placenta accreta, a condition that can cause the placenta to grow out of control. In a normal pregnancy, the placenta develops inside the uterus, attaches to the uterine wall, and then is flushed out of the body after the birth.

In accreta, which doctors believe is most often caused by scarring from prior cesarean sections, the placenta sticks around and embeds. The condition was exceedingly rare…

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Previously Featured

The Quest to Untangle Why Pregnancy Can Turn Deadly

A poorly understood condition results in placentas that aggressively invade the mother, which can lead to death and preterm birth.

When a Placenta Tries to Kill a Mother

How C-sections increase the risk of a rare and devastating disorder.

Confessions of a Mama Diagnosed with Placenta Accreta

What happened with my placenta only happens 1 in every 2,500 births. It’s called Placenta Accreta, where the placenta grows into the uterus. Mine was a very mild form, but wow did it cause damage!

My Brush With Death... How I Survived!

It was somewhat reassuring when the senior surgeon came by to see me and said, “You made the right choice. You would not have survived if we waited. The blood loss would have been much worse and you and the baby would have died.”

Placenta Accreta Spectrum

Placenta accreta spectrum, formerly known as morbidly adherent placenta, refers to the range of pathologic adherence of the placenta, including placenta increta, placenta percreta, and placenta accreta.

Placenta Accreta: A Survivor’s Story + Opportunities to Help Other Mothers

There is no explanation for Placenta Accreta, but most physicians believe it happens because of previous trauma and scarring to the uterine wall. This could be caused by uterine surgery such as a cesarean section, dilation and curettage (D&C), hysteroscopy, in vitro fertilization (IVF), or the placement of an intrauterine device (IUD). I had four uterine surgeries before my Accreta pregnancy.

Placenta Accreta: Brandy's Story

It's important to remember that placenta accreta is real and affects real women and babies. Do enough cesareans, and increasing numbers of women will face this devastating and life-threatening complication.

Placenta Accreta: Myths and Facts

Many of my patients diagnosed with placenta accreta, a complication that develops during pregnancy, receive inconsistent information about the condition and its consequences.

Week 23- Pregnant with Placenta Accreta/Percreta, Placenta Previa, Thalassemia

Hello! My name is Jenifer and this is the story of my high-risk pregnancy. I am currently pregnant with my eighth child (A BOY!!) and was diagnosed with Placenta Previa and Placenta Percreta. I also have Beta Thalassemia which contributes to severe anemia. While this has been a difficult pregnancy and we anticipate a difficult delivery, IT IS WORTH IT!

‘My life was hanging in the balance’ – my placenta accreta story

I was rushed directly into the OR, where Marcella was deliver immediately and they turned their attention to saving my life. It turned out that I not only had complete placenta previa, and also percreta (the worst of accreta) and my placenta had grown through my uterus, and attached to my urethra, bladder and major blood vessels in the area. It took a team of doctors and specialists, five days on life support, 23 hours of surgery, a full hysterectomy, bladder and urethra repair, and a massive blood transfusion of 54 units of blood and 80 blood products, (a total of around 134 donations) to save my life.

Resources

Accreta Hope Australia and New Zealand

We are here to help support women facing Placenta Accreta, Increta and Percreta, survivors and their families. These conditions affect so many women and their families throughout the year, and not knowing what you are facing can be a struggle for yourself, as well as your family.

Hope Floats: My Journey Through Placenta Accreta/Percreta

The sonographer enters the room with the perkiest smile that quickly get very serious as she starts moving the wand over my belly. "Did anyone mention anything to you about an accreta," she asks. I tell her I'd heard about it before and I knew that I had an anterior previa. "That's not the half of it," she says. "Your placenta is attached directly to the C-section scar."

National Accreta Foundation

The National Accreta Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded in April 2017. Our mission: Eliminating preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity attributable to placenta accreta.

The Accreta Survivor

This is the story of my pregnancy after being diagnosed with placenta accreta and placenta previa.