Placental samples
Placental tissue samples were collected directly after the third stage of labour. Samples were taken from four, unaffected parts of the placenta, one from each quadrant. The tissue was placed in a tube and stored at -80°C until the analysis. CB expression was compared to reference proteins glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and β-actin. RNA isolation, then reverse transcription, and finally, Real-Time PCR was conducted to calculate the expression of the mRNA of the examined genes.