Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a serious disease related to high blood pressure that can happen during
pregnancy or just after having a baby. Risks for moms are seizures, stroke, organ damage, and
death. Risks for your baby are being born too early and death.
Finding it early is important to you and your baby. Call your provider right away if you have any of
the following symptoms:
Types of Labor and Birth
Spontaneous Labor
This is when you go into labor on your own because your water breaks or you are having strong,
regular contractions that do not stop. It best when labor starts on its own. This usually happens
anywhere from 37 to 42 weeks of pregnancy. Your due date is just an estimate and rarely are
babies born on this day. Each pregnancy is dierent.
Induction of Labor
Induction is when we try to make your body go into labor with strong, regular contractions. There
may be some medical reasons that your provider may induce you before your due date.
Inducing labor may increase your risk of having a c-section, so we will only induce your labor for
very good reasons. Inducing your labor does not always happen in 1 day or work the rst time. If
your induction does not work, your provider may send you home.
There are several ways your provider may start your labor. They may use more than 1 way.
• Medicine placed in your cheek or vagina to soften the cervix and prepare it for labor
• Breaking your water
• Medicine, called Pitocin, given through an IV to start contractions
• Cervical ripening balloon, a device that is inserted and expanded to put pressure on the cervix
Cesarean (c-section)
If you have had a c-section before, you may choose to have one again. The other option is a
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). If you are interested in a VBAC, talk with your provider.
• Headache
• Seeing spots
• Gaining more than 5 pounds in a week
• Feeling nauseous or throwing up
• Swelling in hands, face, and feet
• Stomach pain in the upper right corner or upper
middle area of belly (not due to contractions,
tightening, your baby moving, or heartburn)