Will a placenta previa make it harder for a mom to feel her baby move?

The placenta's location can affect how a woman feels her baby move. Most moms feel their babies' first movements between 17 and 20 weeks gestation, but some might not feel movement till 21 weeks if the placenta has attached at the front of the uterus, or you hear your doctor or the ultrasonographer refer to it as an anterior placenta. It kind of acts as a shock absorber, and so until the baby is a little bit bigger, not all of those movements can be felt by the mother. They might be a little bit dulled. But as time goes on, the baby grows, you should feel just as many movements as a mother who doesn't have an anterior placenta. Now you asked specifically about a placenta previa, and if that will affect how a mother feels movements. And that won't affect it, because the placenta is attached over the cervix. That means it's really low. You should still feel movement just like a mom who didn't have an anterior placenta. A placenta previa has different implications for pregnancy though. For one, it will change the mode of delivery for sure. There's no if's, and's, or but's about it. A mother who has a placenta previa will have a C-section, and this is for the safety of her and her baby. It goes back to the fact that the placenta is the baby's lifeline, and there's a large amount of blood going to that spot every time the mother's heart beats, so it's highly vascular. If it's right over the cervix, which is the exit, you can't deliver the baby's lifeline first, and if you start to bleed or contract, then it's very likely that you'll bleed a lot vaginally. So these women often end up in the hospital with bleeding episodes before they deliver, and if they haven't had their baby by 36 weeks, most OB providers will recommend C-section at that point to prevent complication as she gets further along. If you have a placenta previa, talk with your doctor about your situation, and they'll be able to give you more advice. And if you have any other questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at   / intermountainmoms  , and recommend us to your friends and family too.