Last updated September 2011. Planned review date: September 2013
Reducing the risk of premature birth
Some babies simply arrive early without warning, but if you are known to be at risk of premature birth, the healthcare team will prepare for it and their treatment may include delaying the birth if possible to give your baby more time to develop.
However, if you have certain types of infection or severe pre-eclampsia, or if your baby has a health problem, then the team may actually advise you to have the baby early, by induction or caesarean, if this is the safest option overall.
Using all the information available about your pregnancy, your healthcare team will do its best to reduce your risk of premature birth.
In this section
Reducing the risk of premature birth:
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