the baby shows signs of distress and needs to be delivered quickly. Other ‘emergencies' include the placenta detaching from the wall of the uterus, or your blood pressure shooting up because of eclampsia. Having an elective Caesarean is major surgery

, placenta praevia, or placental abruption. Both of these conditions can be life-threatening for mother and baby, so immediate contact with the midwife is important for any pregnant women who bleeds after 28 weeks, even if the bleeding is not heavy. (Both

're pregnant it's important not to get too stressed. It's bad for a growing baby as it can reduce vital blood flow to the placenta.'Make it work for youThe key to a stress-free pregnancy is a balance of work and rest, says Dr Cooper: ‘You'll need to lower your

pregnant. At this point the baby was said to be too small, and I had very low amniotic fluid. As both of these could mean that my placenta was breaking down I was given steroid injections in case the baby needed to be delivered, and booked in for the baby

around the unborn baby or some of the cells from the placenta. These provide a definitive answer, but are invasive and carry a 1% risk of miscarriage. For more information and support on antenatal screening and the testing process, visit arc

as my placenta was very low, but thankfully, it had moved and I was expecting a normal birth. I work full time and wanted to work up to as close to the birth as possible. I actually started my maternity leave at 38 weeks.On the Monday of my first week

'll be given a local anaesthetic, then a fine needle is pushed through your tummy to collect a sample of cells from your placenta. There's a very small risk of miscarriage.AmniocentesisThis diagnostic test is done from 15 weeks to check for things such as Down

baby, placenta and amniotic fluid. As the weeks pass more weight will disappear but you mustn't diet. Eating healthily will help you feel better faster. If you're breastfeeding, you need about 500 extra calories a day. One big plus with breastfeeding

is the baby and placenta. So celebrate your new curves and don't even think about dieting-just eat healthily.* This is one time in your life when you'd be worrying if you weren't piling on the pounds.Glow, girlPregnant women are always described as ‘glowing

death and do more to protect them. A Scottish study has found babies are especially vulnerable if their mums have a high level of a certain protein in their blood during pregnancy. Called Alpha Feto Protein, this marker shows the placenta isn't working