Maternal and neonatal outcomes among scheduled versus unscheduled deliveries in women with prenatally diagnosed, pathologically proven placenta accreta.

Objective: To evaluate maternal and neonatal outcomes among scheduled versus unscheduled deliveries in cases of prenatally diagnosed, pathologically proven placenta accreta.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort of placenta accreta cases delivered in five University of California hospitals.

Results: Of 151 cases of histopathologically proven placenta accreta, 82% were prenatally diagnosed. Sixty-seven percent of women underwent scheduled deliveries and 33% were unscheduled. There were no differences in demographics between groups except a higher rate of antepartum bleeding in the unscheduled delivery group (81 versus 53%; p = .003). Scheduled deliveries were associated with a later gestational age at delivery (34.6 versus 32.6 weeks; p = .001), lower blood loss (2.0 versus 2.5 l; p = .04), higher birth weight (2488 versus 2010 g; p < .001), shorter postpartum length of stay (4 versus 5 d; p = .03) and neonatal length of stay (12 versus 20 d; p = .005).

Conclusion: Despite a prenatal diagnosis of placenta accreta, 1/3 of these cases require unscheduled delivery, portending poorer maternal and neonatal outcomes.