The purpose of this study is to investigate why cigarette smoking (or nicotine, the predominant component of cigarettes) protects pregnant women against pre-eclampsia.  Pre-eclampsia, also known as ‘pregnancy induced hypertension,’ affects between 5-8% of all pregnant women.  Pre-eclampsia is characterized by a potentially harmful increase in blood pressure, swelling, and protein in the urine (as a result of kidney damage) and poor birth outcome.  The cause of pre-eclampsia is not known.  However, numerous studies show that abnormal chemical factors within the placenta play an important role in pre-eclampsia and that women who smoke during their pregnancy are less likely to develop pre-eclampsia or pregnancy-induced hypertension.  The expelled placenta is normally discarded.  For this study, we would like to collect placentas obtained from both smokers and non-smokers to study the effects of smoking (or nicotine added to placental cells in the laboratory) on the inflammatory responses by the placenta.