Vasa previa can be found on ultrasound before it causes harm.
Vasa-Previa.com brings together the clinical research, consensus guidance and patient education of Dr. Yinka Oyelese, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who has spent his career working to prevent deaths from vasa previa.
Vasa Previa Pathway and Alert Card
From the anatomy scan to the planned cesarean, built on the 2024 international expert consensus. It ends with an alert card the pregnant woman carries to labor and delivery, so the diagnosis reaches whoever is on call.
- 1Which ultrasound this pregnancy needs
- 2A dated plan once vasa previa is confirmed
- 3A printable alert card for the patient
What is vasa previa?
In vasa previa, fetal blood vessels run through the membranes over or near the cervix, without the protection of the umbilical cord or placenta. If the membranes rupture, these vessels can tear, and the bleeding is fetal blood.
Types
Three types are described: vessels from a velamentous cord insertion, vessels running between the lobes of a bilobed or succenturiate placenta, and a third type described more recently.
Key test
Transvaginal ultrasound with color Doppler can show the vessels over the cervix before labor begins.
Pregnancies studied
In a 2004 multicenter study led by Dr. Oyelese, prenatal diagnosis was the factor that changed outcomes for babies with vasa previa.
Questions to ask in pregnancy
Plain-language information on what vasa previa is, who is at higher risk, and how a diagnosis changes care.
- Who should be checked for vasa previa
- What happens after a diagnosis
- Planning the timing of delivery
Screening, diagnosis and management
The evidence base and the international expert consensus on diagnosis and clinical management of vasa previa in singleton pregnancies.
- Ultrasound technique and pitfalls
- The case for routine screening
- Consensus management recommendations
Dr. Yinka Oyelese, "Dr. Vasa Previa"
Vasa previa is an avoidable obstetric tragedy.
Dr. Oyelese is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in the Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His work focuses on prenatal ultrasound and placental and bleeding disorders of pregnancy. He has published on vasa previa since the 1990s, including the 2004 study on the impact of prenatal diagnosis, the 2023 Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinical Expert Series review, and the 2024 international expert consensus.
Selected publications
A starting list of Dr. Oyelese's work on vasa previa. A full bibliography will follow.
- 2024Vasa previa in singleton pregnancies: diagnosis and clinical management based on an international expert consensusAm J Obstet Gynecol. 2024;231(6):638.e1-638.e24
- 2023Vasa previaOyelese Y, Javinani A, Shamshirsaz AA. Obstet Gynecol. 2023;142(3):503-518
- 2022The case for screening for vasa previa: time to implement a life-saving strategyOyelese Y, Lees CC, Jauniaux E. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol. 2022
- 2019Vasa previa: time to make a differenceAm J Obstet Gynecol. 2019;221(6):539
- 2004Vasa previa: the impact of prenatal diagnosis on outcomesObstet Gynecol. 2004;103(5 Pt 1):937-942
Get in touch
Contact details will be added here. This site provides education and does not give individual medical advice. If you are pregnant and have bleeding, leaking fluid or reduced fetal movement, contact your doctor or labor and delivery unit right away.