Causes of APH

The major causes of APH are placenta praevia, abruptio placentae, local causes, and indeterminate bleeding. Placenta praevia defines as low lying placenta which mean the placenta is located near the uterine opening.It causes uterine bleeding following separation of low-lying placenta from the lower segment of the uterus. The bleeding is from the maternal and not fetal circulation and is more likely to compromise the mother than the fetus (as opposed to that of placenta abruption which prone to compromise fetal circulation). The amount of bleeding in placenta praevia varies from one patient to another. It can range from a mere spotting to torrential bleeding that is life threatening.