The East Lancashire Placenta Clinic is a clinic specialising in the management of pregnancies at risk of developing, or have established, growth problems in baby due to poor placental function. Women are seen by a small team of dedicated midwife sonographers and doctors. Women will usually have an ultrasound scan of their baby performed at every visit with the frequency of visits flexible depending on patient need.
Most babies grow normally in the womb, but some babies (1 in 20) are smaller than expected at birth. This is called fetal growth restriction and is often related to the placenta not functioning properly during pregnancy. It is important to identify which babies have fetal growth restriction as if this is undetected it can, in some cases, cause stillbirth. The risk of this happening is reduced by carefully monitoring the baby’s growth in pregnancy and deciding on the appropriate time to give birth.
Many of the women that we see in Placenta Clinic go on to have uncomplicated pregnancies.
What happens at the clinic?
Your first appointment will usually be around 23 weeks of pregnancy. At this appointment you will have an ultrasound scan, an antenatal check and discussion with the doctor/midwife about your care. You do not need to have a full bladder for the scan.
23 weeks is a good time to check your baby’s growth and the information we get from the scan helps us to plan the care you will receive during the rest of your pregnancy. Your plan of care will be discussed with you at the time of your appointment.
Following your first appointment, depending on the initial ultrasound scan findings, you may have further appointments arranged in Placenta Clinic or you may have scans arranged in your consultant antenatal clinic later in pregnancy.
Where is the clinic?
The Placenta Clinic is in the Fetal Medicine Unit at Lancashire Women & Newborn Centre, Burnley.
The clinic runs every Friday morning and Tuesday afternoon.
If you need to contact us our telephone number is 01282-805665 or 01282-804487 (Monday-Friday 08:30 - 17:00). There is a secure answer machine on which you can leave your name and telephone number and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
