Welcome to the Vasa Praevia site
About Vasa Praevia raising awareness
We are a UK registered charity, set up because every year in the UK this obstetric condition will affect approximately 555 pregnancies (more than one per day). In the main these cases will go undiagnosed until birth and, sadly, likely to result in the death of an otherwise healthy baby.
However, this need not happen. If the condition is diagnosed, antenatally by ultrasound, the survival rate is almost 100%. Antenatal diagnosis and awareness of this condition is key to avoid these unnecessary deaths.
Our Objectives
- to raise awareness about Vasa Praevia: the condition, risk factors, warning signs, diagnosis and treatment
- to bring about the introduction of clinical protocols in the UK for the diagnosis and treatment of Vasa Praevia
Learn More
Please click on the tabs / sub-tabs above to learn more about the different types of Vasa Praevia, occurrence rates, warning signs and symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, and colour doppler ultrasound. Please also take a look at our Social Media pages where you will find our latest information booklets.
The Key Questions
Please take the following questions to your antenatal appointments, prompting your treating team to actively look for Vasa Praevia and the associated risk factors during your scan:-
- Placental position – Do I have a low lying placenta, is it near the cervix?
- Placental lobes- Do I have any additional placental lobes?
- Cord insertion point – Where do the umbilical vessels insert into the placenta? Is there any evidence of velamentous or marginal cord insertion?
- Are all the blood vessels protected.
- Can Vasa Praevia be ruled out?
The Petition
If you feel that women in the UK would benefit from the introduction of routine screening for Vasa Praevia on the NHS please sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/royal-college-of-obsetricians-and-gynaecologists-save-150-babies-per-year-by-routine-screening-for-vasa-praevia
