Placental lakes are seen on scans as black areas on the surface or deeper inside the placenta, and are actually pools of blood.
There have been one or two cases reported where very large placental lakes were thought to be associated with poor placental function, but it is now known that almost all placentas have one or more lakes by the third trimester, and they don't seem to affect your baby in any way.
Research has found that placental lakes are present in about two per cent of pregnancies and are more common in thicker placentas. There appears to be no association with placental abruption (bleeding from the placenta during pregnancy), high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia, premature labour, small babies or stillbirths.
Because it would seem placental lakes are so common and have no significance, most sonographers do not report them, or even mention them to women.
Never had that happen for me but found this website and thought i would send this to you. hope this helps! xxxx
Is anyone able to offer advice as am really worried about this...
Hi im 26+5 weeks pregnant and I had a growth scan this morning. Everything was fine with the baby however the sonographers noticed three placental lakes. All three sonographers said they had never seen them before but my consultant confirmed what there were. My consultant said they may cause the baby's growth to slow down. Does anyone know anymore about the placental lakes or has anyone had them and what happened in your pregnancy??? I have tried googling but cant find any simple sounding information and have never heard of these things before. Any advice please