The following inclusion criteria applied to Group 1 and 2: spontaneous birth ending in vaginal birth or emergency Cesarean section (C-section) between 22 weeks and 0 days and 36 weeks and 6 days of gestation. Group 3 included women who underwent spontaneous labour between 37 weeks and 0 days and 40 weeks and 6 days of gestation. All women included in the study were in active labour before delivery, exhibiting regular uterine contractions, at least 2 contractions / 10 minutes resulting in cervical dilation or cervical effacement. All C-sections were performed based on emergency obstetric indications, elective C-sections were excluded from the study. Other exclusion criteria encompassed complications diagnosed during the current pregnancy, such as multiple gestations, anemia, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, acute fatty liver of pregnancy, chronic kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, immunodeficiency, placenta previa, fetal growth restriction, HELLP Syndrome, oligohydramnios, polyhydramnios, and other rare complications not otherwise specified. Pregnancies with confirmed fetal chromosomal or anatomical abnormalities, pregnancies conceived using in vitro fertilization, cases of intrauterine fetal demise, as well as iatrogenic terminated pregnancies were also excluded from the study. Moreover, samples with insufficient RNA quality were excluded from further analysis.