Hi Rena,
My response might be more graphic than your post. First of all, congratulations on your diagnosis. I am thrilled that your doctor seems well aware of successful management for vasa previa!
I must say though, that vasa previa is not placenta previa. Placenta previa bleeding is almost always maternal bleeding which means there is more time and it is less immediately threatening for the baby. Placenta previa bleeding can be slow, giving you time to get to the hospital to be checked and watched. Vasa previa bleeding is not this way. Typically it is a gush when the membranes break. (From my experience with hundreds of vasa previa women (and thousands of case reports), the membranes often break when the vasa previa ruptures rather than the other way around.) Your baby has an awful lot less blood than you do. There are a lot of difference causes of bleeding in pregnancy, but babies are compromised immediately when a vasa previa ruptures. This is why your doctor plans on hospitalizing you. Very few women are candidates for out-patient management of vasa previa. Because it is not uncommon for vasa previa to rupture as the cervix begins to thin and dilate in the last few weeks before term, they will give you the steroids and watch you closely for signs of uterine activity, probably with additional ultrasounds and perhaps daily non-stress tests. You will probably be delivered at about 35 - 36 weeks unless you have uterine activity of any sort, in which case you will be delivered earlier.
Avoiding that rupture is very important. Vasa previa WILL rupture at term if not before. Is is much easier to manage by hospitalization, watchfulness, and early delivery than a crash C-section, and aggressive resuscitation and blood transfusions for the neonate. The long and the short is that a little spotting would likely be caused by other pregnancy issues. Vasa previa bleeding is most typically sudden and quite profuse and painless as well. It also doesn't rupture until later in pregnancy when the cervix starts thinning and dilating and the baby gets bigger and begins to drop, or during labor and delivery, hence the reason most women are hospitalized at about 30-32 weeks and delivered at about 35 weeks. According to our records this management results in 100% survival. We've never seen a baby die from vasa previa when it was prenatally diagnosed and appropriately managed. I hope this wasn't more than you bargained for posting here, but when it comes to vasa previa, a little awareness makes all the difference in the world. It sounds like you are in awfully good hands, Rena. I wish you all the best.
Cindy Paris, IVPF Co-Founder, member Board of Directors
Mum to Nathan Elliot Paris ^i^
http://http://NathanParis.com(If you read Nathan's story you will notice that I ruptured at term. It is important to note here than I am one of the rare women who never effaces or dilates before term. I carried and delivered 5 babies (3 before and 1 after my vasa previa pregnancy). I never effaced or began to dilate before labor with any of them. This, of course, makes for very long labors. My doctor thought Nathan would arrive at least another week or two later. I never went into labor. If Nate had been born today and was prenatally diagnosed I would have been a candidate for out-patient management and a C-section at about 36 weeks. This is NOT the case with the vast majority of women!
The best place to get support and information about vasa previa and successful management is the Vasa_Previa email list at
http://http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Vasa_Previa There are literally hundreds of subscribers there who are currently going through or have gone through vasa previa pregnancies.
