DO WOMEN WITH PLACENTA PREVIA WITHOUT ANTEPARTUM HEMORRHAGE REQUIRE HOSPITALIZATION

Patients with placenta praevia in the third trimester are routinely co nfined to hospital for fear of major haemorrhage. Whilst this is argua bly necessary for those who have had an episode of antepartum haemorrh age (APH), it is uncertain whether these same management principles ar e valid for those with placenta praevia without antepartum haemorrhage . A retrospective study was undertaken reviewing the case records of 6 9 consecutive patients diagnosed with placenta praevia in the third tr imester of pregnancy. The outcome of 15 who had had no episodes of ble eding were compared with those who had at least 1 antepartum bleeding episode. Patients with placenta praevia without evidence of APH spent a significantly shorter amount of time in hospital and had a significa ntly lower rate of emergency delivery, with a neonatal outcome as good if not better than the APH group. We conclude that outpatient managem ent in this cohort of patients may be a safe and cost-effective means of care, and warrants randomized prospective study.