My placenta detached in the ninth month of my pregnancy and my baby died. Can this happen again? Is it safe to get pregnant again?

Alexander Kofinas M.D.

Placenta abruption (placental detachment) is a condition that occurs infrequently (1 in 300 pregnancies). However, once it happens the risk of recurrence in the next pregnancy is 20 times higher, and after two successive pregnancies with abruption the risk jumps to almost 1 in 3. This is because placenta abruption occurs in patients with some form of underlined chronic condition, which affects the mother's vessels and thus leads to poor placental development. The most common causes of this condition (pre-eclampsia, chronic hypertension, lupus erythematosus, preterm labor, etc.) are linked one way or another to thrombophilia.