Effect of the delivery way and number of parity in the subsequent incidence of placenta previa.

Aim: To appraise the impact of previous birth type and the number of deliveries on placenta previa incidence and the extent of intrapartum massive hemorrhage.Materials: Placenta previa complications among healthy singleton subsequent pregnancies following previous pregnancies without placenta previa history were classified according to their birth types and previous numbers of parity. Subgroups of subsequent pregnancies with massive hemorrhage and placental adhesion anomalies were compared.Result: One, two, three or more previous cesarean births triggered a significant increase in the rate of massive hemorrhage when compared to subgroups of previous vaginal births (31.5% versus 50.9%, p = .02; 32.7% versus 69.0%, p = .001; and 42.9% versus 81.9%, p = .035, respectively). The rate of placental adhesion anomalies in all subgroups of previous cesarean births were statistically higher than subgroups of previous vaginal births (12.4 versus 32.7%, p = .003; 10.2% versus 52.2%, p = .001; and 9.5% versus 63.6%, p = .001, respectively). Urogenital complications in women with one previous cesarean birth were higher than those of the vaginal birth group (9.1 versus 0%, p = .004).

Conclusion

Previous cesarean births are more frequently associated with increased massive hemorrhage and placental adhesion anomalies in subsequent pregnancies with placenta previa when compared to previous vaginal births.