Tori Spelling Reveals Pregnancy Complications, Health Crisis
ABC News' Kelly Hagan:
Tori Spelling gave birth to Finn Davey McDermott six weeks ago and he appears to be the picture of health, but the actress says she nearly lost her life during the pregnancy.
In an interview with Us Weekly magazine, the 39-year-old mother of four revealed just how risky her fourth pregnancy really was.
Twenty weeks into the pregnancy, Spelling woke up one day to find blood dripping down her legs, the magazine reports in its new issue.
WATCH: Tori Spelling on Being a 'Normal Mom'
Spelling was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital, where she learned she had a condition called placenta previa, in which the placenta covers the opening of the cervix. The condition most likely resulted in part from the C-sections she had with her three other children - Liam Aaron, 5, Stella Doreen, 4, and Hattie Margaret, 10 months - all with her husband, actor Dean McDermott.
Another possible reason for the complication could have been the timing of Finn's conception. She got pregnant with him just one month after Hattie was born.
"The greater number of pregnancies a woman carries, the higher likelihood that she will have a placenta previa," Dr. David Finke, a Beverly Hills-based ob-gyn who did not treat Spelling, told ABC News.
The problems put Spelling at risk for substantial bleeding, which could have forced doctors to terminate the pregnancy and remove her uterus to save her life.
Read more: Pregnant Tori Spelling Defends Pregnant Bikini Pic
"It was surreal," Spelling told the magazine. "I just remember thinking, 'I can't leave three children behind.'"
Doctors ordered bed rest for four months. After nine intense bleeding episodes, Finn was born via C-section Aug. 30, 37 weeks into the pregnancy.
While Finn was healthy, Spelling's own health troubles weren't over. Three weeks after Finn's birth, Spelling's surgical scar ruptured. She had emergency surgery and remained hospitalized for two weeks.
She's now at home, getting better and resting with her four children.
Spelling said she survived her experiences by envisioning herself "holding a healthy baby. That was the goal."
The reality-TV star told Us Weekly that, while she loves being pregnant, she is most likely now finished having kids.
"Having one prior placenta previa is not a contra-indication of having subsequent pregnancies, but it does increase the likelihood that it could happen again," Dr. Finke said.
Spelling is the daughter of the late, storied film and TV producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, Candy. She first rose to fame in her own right when she starred in the hit primetime soap opera "Beverly Hills: 90210." The "Craft Wars" host now owns an interior design store in California and, with McDermott and their family, stars in the reality-TV show "Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood" on Oxygen.