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At 20 weeks I went for my scan, all measurements of the baby were fine but I was told to come back again at 28 weeks as I had a succenturiate lobe.The consultant explained with succenturiate lobes they can sometimes cause the Umbilical cord to cross the birth canal & that would make it difficult to have a natural birth so therefore you would need to have a Caesarian. I went back at 28 weeks all still seemed to be fine & was told to come back again at 34 weeks. The consultant was fantastic made me feel at ease & that I was in the best possible hands & had nothing to worry about, he promised that at my next scan they would confirm how I would deliver either way natural or Caesarian. He explained if the scan was inconclusive it would be Caesarian as better to be safe than sorry. At my 34 week scan I had a different consultant to my previous appointments, once again they rescanned me & straight away picked up the cord running across the birth canal using the colour Doppler. I knew immediately this was going to be a Caesarian from the discussions with my previous consultant, however to my shock after they had finished scanning I was advised to come back at 38weeks for another scan! I instantly burst into tears not through the fear of what might happen as at this stage I was not fully aware of the situation, the previous consultant had not mentioned Vasa Praevia he had just made me aware of the potential of having a Caesarian, I was upset because I was still going to be left not knowing how I would give birth & not being able to prepare myself. Eventually it was agreed they would book me in for a Caesarian 3 days before my due date & I was to come in for a scan at 38 weeks to see if anything had changed, I was told as Vasa Praevia is very rare they didn't want to do surgery if they didn't have to. I queried what I should do If I went into labour prior to this as with my first daughter I was 6 days early, they advised to call 999 & get to hospital immediately! This was slightly alarming but I left relatively happy as there was a plan in place. I carried on as normal & a couple of days later I received a phone call from my mum asking what I had been diagnosed with, she had been doing some research & told me to not do too much, no lifting my 3yr old daughter & no housework to just put my feet up & relax. This was a bit strange so naturally I went straight onto good old Google & looked up Vasa Praevia, I found out that if undiagnosed or incorrect care was given my baby would only have a 5% chance of survival! If diagnosed & correct care is given 100% chance of survival! Now I had been diagnosed as possible Vasa Praevia but was certainly not receiving the care that was advised for this, the first consultant knew what he was looking for & what care needed to be given but unfortunately with the change in consultants for my last scan the severity of the condition was not known. My mum got straight onto VPRA (Vasa Praevia raising awareness) to find out how we needed to proceed, they gave us invaluable information & support that helped us push the hospital to act on my condition. I was admitted into hospital at 36 weeks & had our beautiful little girl at 37weeks by Caesarian section, the Dr carrying out the Caesarian said to us straight after the birth that we made the right decision going for the Caesarian. At the time I had our little girl the condition Vasa Praevia was not very well known in hospitals, there had been lots of research done in America but not the UK, so had it not been for VPRA i may have  been leading a very different life from the one i do now. We give our greatest thanks to them for our beautiful, independent, feisty & hilarious little 4year old that we get to put to bed every night & wake up to every morning, without VPRA this may have not been the case. Unfortunately there are stories not as happy as mine & that is why although 4 years on the awareness is much better for Vasa Praevia in the uk it is still so important to keep pushing for more,1 VP Angel is 1 too many when it can be avoided with the right care through pregnancy & delivery.

If you would like more information on the condition or would like to know more about what the charity is doing to help raise awareness please visit their website - http://vasapraevia.co.uk