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Life After Accreta Essay

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Stories of Women and their Partners about Life after Accreta

Although once thought to be a rare disorder, recent statistics show that Accreta occurs as often as once in every 533 deliveries (Wu, Kocherginsky & Hibbardm, 2005). The outcomes for mother and baby can be life threatening due to massive blood loss and the need for an emergency hysterectomy to control bleeding, even when Accreta is diagnosed early in the antepartum period. Those couples not diagnosed early, experience a traumatic delivery for which they and their partner were not prepared. Those couples who were diagnosed early, experience months of stress, fear, and uncertainty as they await the birth of their child and fear for the life of both the mother and infant. Even when both mother and baby survive, the experience leaves a lasting mark on the lives of the couple and their family. However, to date no studies have been reported that examined the long term impact of an Accreta experience on women and their partners.

The purpose of this mixed methods study is to gain a better understanding of how an Accreta Birth Experience (ABE) impacts women and their partners’ over time; to identify the impact this experience has on perceived QOL, Quality of Sleep, Fatigue, Social Isolation, …show more content…

Accreta has three distinct types; placenta accreta, placenta increta and placenta percreta. Placenta accreta represents 79% of accreta cases, while placenta increta represents 14% of cases and placenta percreta represents 7% of cases. In placenta accrete the villi are affixed to the myometrium of the uterus; in placenta increta the placental villi grow through the myometrium, and in placenta percreta the placenta villa grow through the myometrium and invade other structures such as the bladder and colon (Balayla & Bondarenko, 2012). The risks and complications are related to the degree in placental invasion (Figure

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