This browser does not support the Video element.
Life-threatening pregnancy complication on the rise
North Texas mom, Morgan Hibbard, received nearly 5 liters of blood while undergoing surgery for a life-threatening pregnancy complication. Now, she and her baby are doing great. Her family is also thanking her doctor and warning others to take the condition seriously.
DALLAS - A North Texas mother is speaking out to bring awareness to a pregnancy complication that is increasing in the United States.
Placenta accreta is one of the highest causes of death to a mother during delivery.
Morgan Hibbard noticed the first signs of it just six weeks into her pregnancy with her third baby. She and her husband, Trent, feared the worst.
"I started bleeding around like six weeks, I think. And so, honestly, we thought that it was probably a miscarriage," she said.
At about 20 weeks, she got the official diagnosis.
As a former labor and delivery nurse, she knew how serious the condition was.
"You did not want a placenta accreta. So, it was the ‘big scary’ that no one wanted to face," she said. "We both talked about it and prayed about it, and we were like, ‘Lord, whatever is head of us, you’ve got us in your hands.’"
The Hibbards found a specialist who could help.
Dr. Robert Cohen is the founder of Medical City Dallas’ placenta accreta program.
"Placenta accreta is an abnormality of the placenta where it invades into the wall of the uterus," he said.
The condition is becoming much more common in the U.S., now at one in every 300 pregnancies.
It also has a maternal mortality rate of 4 to 7%.
But with specialized care, Dr. Cohen said the death rate is much lower.
"Morgan had a severe form of placenta accreta. It's called placenta percreta, and it had gone all the way through the uterus and close to the bladder," he said.
Her procedure was difficult.
"Morgan had a doozie is what they called it of a procedure," her husband, Trent, said. "It was one of the most unique cases that he’s seen. And this is why you come to a specialist in these scenarios."
He believes Dr. Cohen saved his wife’s life.
The Hibbards hope their story can bring hope to others.
Their baby, Hollis, was born at 34 weeks and needed a little extra care in the NICU. She’s now 11 weeks old and thriving.
Moms lose average of $9,500 on maternity leave, survey reveals
Women reported taking about 11 weeks of maternity leave on average, and 25% took six weeks or less.
The family is also encouraging other moms with this diagnosis to make sure they seek out specialized care.
Dr. Cohen said the risk for developing placenta accreta increases with each cesarean section a mother has in previous pregnancies.
The National Accreta Foundation said the rate of the condition in the U.S. has gone up parallel to the rate of c-sections.