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View Full Version : What is an amniotic band?


lileeob
Apr 15, 2015, 01:56 PM
I just had my 20 week anatomy scan, and they found ''something'' on my placenta, about 5 cm in length. On each ''side'', there are thread-like strings. They are unsure if it's a piece of membrane that never went away, or something more serious called an amniotic band. They are not overly concerned at this point, as the baby has a lot of room and none of these strings were entangled on the baby. I will hopefully be finding out for sure next week, but in the mean time id really like to have some answers from others who may have experience or knowledge. Is it likely to be an amniotic band? What else could it be? And what will happen if it is an amniotic band (how will they prevent injury/deformity to my baby?) also one more question, the baby was feet first. Im not worried as I realize there is still a lot of room for baby to flip around, but my first was not feet first at this point. Is it common for babies to be in a breach position at the 5 month ultrasound? At what point in pregnancy do they begin to worry if the baby is still breach? Thanks.

DoulaLC
Apr 15, 2015, 04:02 PM
Sometimes there can be fibers that float around in the amniotic sac along with baby. Often they are not an issue; some situations resolve themselves and will no longer be seen on a later scan. However, they can sometimes be much like if you were to wrap a rubber band around your finger and you see obvious signs of constriction. Usually these constrictions will be looked for in a scan, like in yours, and baby was fine. Babies will sometimes require surgery to correct damage if there has been constriction. That your doctor didn't see any constriction at 20 weeks is a positive sign.

Most babies will be head down by about 34 weeks, even more so by 36 weeks, so nothing to be concerned about with baby being breech at this point. Sending you good thoughts for positive results on your next scan.