Basic obstetric terms

• amniocentesis
  Amniocentesis
  Amniocentesis is a medical procedure used in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and fetal infections, in which a small amount of amniotic fluid, which contains fetal tissues, is sampled from the amnion or amniotic sac surrounding a developing fetus, and the fetal DNA is examined for...
  
  
• amnion
  Amnion
  The amnion is a membrane building the amniotic sac that surrounds and protects an embryo. It is developed in reptiles, birds, and mammals, which are hence called “Amniota”; but not in amphibians and fish , which are consequently termed “Anamniota”. The primary role of this is the protection of the...
  
  , amniotic sac
• amniotic fluid
  Amniotic fluid
  Amniotic fluid or liquor amnii is the nourishing and protecting liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a pregnant woman.- Development of amniotic fluid :...
  
  
• antenatal care, prenatal care
  Prenatal care
  Prenatal care refers to the medical and nursing care recommended for women before and during pregnancy. The aim of good prenatal care is to detect any potential problems early, to prevent them if possible , and to direct the woman to appropriate specialists, hospitals, etc...
  
  
• breastfeeding
  Breastfeeding
  Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
  
  
• cervix
  Cervix
  The cervix is the lower, narrow portion of the uterus where it joins with the top end of the vagina. It is cylindrical or conical in shape and protrudes through the upper anterior vaginal wall...
  
  
• childbirth
  Childbirth
  Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
  
  
• chorionic villus sampling
  Chorionic villus sampling
  Chorionic villus sampling , sometimes misspelled "chorionic villous sampling", is a form of prenatal diagnosis to determine chromosomal or genetic disorders in the fetus. It entails sampling of the chorionic villus and testing it...
  
  
• contraception
  Contraception
  Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
  
  
• embryo
  Embryo
  An embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
  
  
• embryology
  Embryology
  Embryology is a science which is about the development of an embryo from the fertilization of the ovum to the fetus stage...
  
  
• fallopian tube
  Fallopian tube
  The Fallopian tubes, also known as oviducts, uterine tubes, and salpinges are two very fine tubes lined with ciliated epithelia, leading from the ovaries of female mammals into the uterus, via the utero-tubal junction...
  
  
• fetus
  Fetus
  A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
  
  
• gestation
  Gestation
  Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. Mammals during pregnancy can have one or more gestations at the same time ....
  
  
• gynecology
• hormone
  Hormone
  A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...
  
  
• identical twin
• In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
• labor, labour - see childbirth
  Childbirth
  Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
  
  
• lactation
  Lactation
  Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process occurs in all female mammals, however it predates mammals. In humans the process of feeding milk is called breastfeeding or nursing...
  
  
• Lamaze
  Lamaze
  The Lamaze Technique, often referred to as Lamaze, is a prepared childbirth technique developed in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze as an alternative to the use of medical intervention during childbirth...
  
  
• live birth
  Live birth
  In human reproduction, a live birth occurs when a fetus, whatever its gestational age, exits the maternal body and subsequently shows any sign of life, such as voluntary movement, heartbeat, or pulsation of the umbilical cord, for however brief a time and regardless of whether the umbilical cord or...
  
  
• menstrual cycle
  Menstrual cycle
  The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
  
  
• midwifery
  Midwifery
  Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....
  
  
• mother
  Mother
  A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
  
  
• natural childbirth
  Natural childbirth
  Natural Childbirth is a philosophy of childbirth that is based on the notion that women who are adequately prepared are innately able to give birth without routine medical interventions. Natural childbirth arose in opposition to the techno-medical model of childbirth that has recently gained...
  
  
• navel
  Navel
  The navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
  
  
• ovary
  Ovary
  The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in anatomically female individuals are analogous to testes in anatomically male individuals, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands.-Human anatomy:Ovaries...
  
  
• ovum
  Ovum
  An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
  
   or egg
• oxytocin
  Oxytocin
  Oxytocin is a mammalian hormone that acts primarily as a neuromodulator in the brain.Oxytocin is best known for its roles in sexual reproduction, in particular during and after childbirth...
  
   or pitocin
• pediatrics
  Pediatrics
  Pediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
  
  
• pelvic bone width
• placenta
  Placenta
  The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
  
  
• pregnancy
  Pregnancy
  Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
  
  
• sterilization
• twin
  Twin
  A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
  
  
• ultrasound
  Obstetric ultrasonography
  Obstetric sonography is the application of medical ultrasonography to obstetrics, in which sonography is used to visualize the embryo or foetus in its mother's uterus...
  
  
• umbilical cord
  Umbilical cord
  In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
  
  
• umbilicus - see navel
  Navel
  The navel is a scar on the abdomen caused when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby...
  
  
• uterus
  Uterus
  The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
  
   or womb
• vagina
  Vagina
  The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
  
  
• womb - see uterus
  Uterus
  The uterus or womb is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals including humans. One end, the cervix, opens into the vagina, while the other is connected to one or both fallopian tubes, depending on the species...
  
  

Complications of pregnancy and childbirth

• abortion
  Abortion
  Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
  
  
• abruption
• breech birth
  Breech birth
  A breech birth is the birth of a baby from a breech presentation. In the breech presentation the baby enters the birth canal with the buttocks or feet first as opposed to the normal head first presentation....
  
  
• cephalo-pelvic disproportion
• caesarean section
  Caesarean section
  A Caesarean section, is a surgical procedure in which one or more incisions are made through a mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies, or, rarely, to remove a dead fetus...
  
  , cesarean section, C-section
• dermatoses of pregnancy specific skin conditions during pregnancy
• diabetes
• eclampsia
  Eclampsia
  Eclampsia , an acute and life-threatening complication of pregnancy, is characterized by the appearance of tonic-clonic seizures, usually in a patient who had developed pre-eclampsia...
  
  
• ectopic pregnancy
  Ectopic pregnancy
  An ectopic pregnancy, or eccysis , is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo implants outside the uterine cavity. With rare exceptions, ectopic pregnancies are not viable. Furthermore, they are dangerous for the parent, since internal haemorrhage is a life threatening complication...
  
  
• gestational diabetes
  Gestational diabetes
  Gestational diabetes is a condition in which women without previously diagnosed diabetes exhibit high blood glucose levels during pregnancy . It is widely accepted as a disease only in the United States, there is some question whether the condition is natural during pregnancy...
  
  
• Group B Streptococcus infection
  Group B Streptococcus
  Infection with Group B Streptococcus , also known as 'Streptococcus agalactiae' and more colloquially as Strep B and group B Strep, can cause serious illness and sometimes death, especially in newborn infants, the elderly, and patients with compromised immune systems...
  
  
• HELLP syndrome
  HELLP syndrome
  HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening obstetric complication usually considered to be a variant of pre-eclampsia. Both conditions usually occur during the later stages of pregnancy, or sometimes after childbirth.HELLP is an abbreviation of the main findings:...
  
  
• hypertension
  Hypertension
  Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...
  
  
• hysterectomy
  Hysterectomy
  A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus, usually performed by a gynecologist. Hysterectomy may be total or partial...
  
  
• Intrauterine Growth Restriction
  Intrauterine growth restriction
  Intrauterine growth restriction refers to poor growth of a baby while in the mother's womb during pregnancy. The causes can be many, but most often involve poor maternal nutrition or lack of adequate oxygen supply to the fetus....
  
   (IUGR)
• macrosomia (big baby)
• malpractice
  Malpractice
  In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...
  
  
• miscarriage
  Miscarriage
  Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
  
   or stillbirth
  Stillbirth
  A stillbirth occurs when a fetus has died in the uterus. The Australian definition specifies that fetal death is termed a stillbirth after 20 weeks gestation or the fetus weighs more than . Once the fetus has died the mother still has contractions and remains undelivered. The term is often used in...
  
  
• obstetric fistula
  Obstetric fistula
  Obstetric fistula is a severe medical condition in which a fistula develops between either the rectum and vagina or between the bladder and vagina after severe or failed childbirth, when adequate medical care is not available.-Symptoms and signs:The resulting disorders typically include...
  
  
• obstetric hemorrhage
• Pelvic girdle pain
  Pelvic girdle pain
  Pregnancy related Pelvic Girdle Pain causes pain, instability and limitation of mobility and functioning in any of the three pelvic joints...
  
  
• placenta praevia
  Placenta praevia
  Placenta praevia is an obstetric complication in which the placenta is attached to the uterine wall close to or covering the cervix. It can sometimes occur in the later part of the first trimester, but usually during the second or third. It is a leading cause of antepartum haemorrhage...
  
  
• pre-eclampsia
  Pre-eclampsia
  Pre-eclampsia or preeclampsia is a medical condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amounts of protein in the urine....
  
  
• premature birth
  Premature birth
  In humans preterm birth refers to the birth of a baby of less than 37 weeks gestational age. The cause for preterm birth is in many situations elusive and unknown; many factors appear to be associated with the development of preterm birth, making the reduction of preterm birth a challenging...
  
  , preterm labor or prematurity
• small for gestational age
  Small for gestational age
  Small for gestational age babies are those who are smaller in size than normal for the baby's sex and gestational age, most commonly defined as a weight below the 10th percentile for the gestational age.-Terminology:...
  
   (SGA)
• uterine rupture
  Uterine rupture
  Uterine rupture is a potentially catastrophic event during childbirth by which the integrity of the myometrial wall is breached. In an incomplete rupture the peritoneum is still intact. With a complete rupture the contents of the uterus may spill into the peritoneal cavity or the broad ligament...
  
  

See also

• gynecology - study of female reproductive system
• Samantha Burton v. State of Florida

External links

• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• OBGYNHealth.net
• Seven Hills Women's Health Centers - Leaders in Women's Health with a helpful womens health library