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 Definition By Mayo Clinic Staff 
 
 Multimedia Placenta previa 
 
 Placenta previa (pluh-SEN-tuh PREH-vee-uh) occurs when a baby's placenta partially or totally covers the opening in the mother's cervix — the lower end of the uterus that connects to the top of the vagina. Placenta previa can cause severe bleeding before or during delivery. 
 
 The placenta provides oxygen and nutrients to your growing baby and removes waste products from your baby's blood. It attaches to the wall of your uterus, and your baby's umbilical cord arises from it. In most pregnancies, the placenta attaches at the top or side of the uterus. In placenta previa, the placenta attaches to the lower area of the uterus. 
 
 If you have placenta previa, you'll probably be restricted from physical exertion for a portion of your pregnancy and you'll likely require a cesarean section (C-section) to safely deliver your baby. 
 
 
 
 ||||| A ‘miracle baby’ in China that survived despite being born at just 23 weeks has managed to live through her first week of care. 
 
 The tiny baby girl, who is now eight days old, was born last week in Chongqing, southwest China, after doctors performed an emergency operation to correct a problem with her mother’s cervix. 
 
 Before the operation, doctors warned the child’s parents that the baby would be born severely premature and would have next to no chance of survival. 
 
 Yet despite the doctor’s bleak forebodings, the baby lived through the operation. Chief of Paediatrics at the Chongqing Southwest Hospital said that the fact the baby survived a “spontaneous abortion” was very rare, as it is almost impossible for a baby to live through something like this. 
 
 The baby, who weighs just 660 grams and measures 28 cm, was taken straight to an incubator after the operation and is currently receiving around the clock care. 
 
 Due to the baby being born so early, medical staff have said that the baby’s organs and veins have are yet to fully develop and this has caused some complications in giving the baby girl the correct medication and nutrients. 
 
 The ‘miracle baby girl’ has been named ‘chopstick girl’ by local Chinese media because she is the same height as she is the same height as a chopstick.
– They call her "chopstick girl," which provides a sense of her size: all of 11 inches long and weighing just 23 ounces. The Independent reports that a girl in southwest China has survived after being born last week at just 23 weeks. She came along after doctors had to perform an emergency procedure on the mother's cervix, which triggered what the lead pediatrician at Chongqing Southwest Hospital called a "spontaneous abortion" (though most definitions seem to frame "spontaneous abortions" as occurring before the 20th week). Shanghaiist reports the 24-year-old mother-to-be was experiencing complications from placenta previa, in which the placenta obscures part or all of the opening of the cervix. Doctors had told the parents the procedure would trigger the baby's birth and gave the infant almost zero chance of survival. But she remains on 24-hour care in an incubator. One complication: She's so young and tiny that her veins are not yet fully developed, making it trickier to provide her with nutrients. Xinhua has photos. (Click to read about a Canadian mom who gave birth in the US and got a bill of nearly $1 million.)