What causes placental abruption?
While doctors aren’t sure what causes placental abruption, they are aware of some of the risk factors. Physical trauma to the stomach, for example, can cause the placenta to separate from the uterine wall. Alternately, if too much fluid surrounds the baby (polyhydramnios), the mother’s water can break, causing her uterus to shrink rapidly from the loss of fluid. Because this change in size is so great, her body thinks that the baby has been delivered and gives the placenta the signal to begin separating. Factors that increase a woman’s risk for abruption include: high blood pressure-Blood pressure problems may be unrelated to pregnancy (chronic hypertension) or directly related to pregnancy (toxemia or pre-eclampsia); previous pregnancies-The more pregnancies a woman has had, the greater her risk for abruption; previous placental abruptions-If a woman has experienced abruption in the past, she has a one in 10 chance of having one again. If she’s had two or more abruptions, her chances
