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"The coronavirus attacks endothelial cells, which form the cellophane-like lining of blood vessels. Ob-gyns began to suspect that the virus affects the vessels of the placenta, which ferries oxygen and nutrients to the fetus. Inflammation, clotting, and other vascular damage in the placenta put the baby at risk for not getting enough oxygen; the baby’s growth may slow, or stop. The same damage is also believed to trigger preeclampsia and other hypertensive disorders in the mother, which can impair the liver and kidneys, trigger strokes, and even result in death. The closest thing to a surefire remedy is to deliver the placenta, which means inducing labor. In the earliest and most severe cases, which occur before or at the threshold of fetal viability, the treatment for preeclampsia is termination of the pregnancy."
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