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What happens to your baby after delivery depends on several things:

• How early he or she was born
• How small he or she is
• How well developed his or her organs are
• Whether he or she was harmed in the womb by the preeclampsia.

All babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy are said to be early. Doctors call this being premature. Lots of babies used to die because they were born premature. But better medical care nowadays means that most babies live.

The more mature your baby is, the more likely he or she is to live. But these days, even a baby born three months early, at 28 weeks, has a good chance of living. Eight in 10 babies born at 28 weeks survive.¹

If your baby is premature, he or she will probably need special care in a part of the hospital called a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU for short). Babies stay there until their organs have matured enough so that they can breathe and feed on their own.

Premature babies can get several serious health problems:

• Breathing problems, known as respiratory distress syndrome
• Bleeding into their brain
• Feeding problems
• Kidney problems
• Eye problems
• Infections
• Anemia
• Low blood sugar
• Lung disease
• Heart disease.

Your baby may need to spend weeks or even months in special care before going home.

Many babies who are born early go on to have healthy, normal lives. But some have health problems or problems with development that carry on into childhood or even later life. The very smallest babies may never catch up completely on the growth they missed out on in the womb.

Some very small babies born to mothers with preeclampsia have high blood pressure themselves in the first week of life. But doctors aren't sure what this means for their health later on.²

Girls born to women with preeclampsia are more likely to get preeclampsia if they get pregnant as adults.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.