Midwifery

Family planning, simply put, is the practice of controlling the number of children in a family and the intervals between their births, particularly by means of artificial contraception or voluntary sterilization.

The amniotic fluid, commonly called a pregnant woman's water or waters (Latin liquor amnii), is the protective liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a pregnant female.

Menstruation, also known as a period or monthly, is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina.

("Sexual disease" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Sexual dysfunction.) Sexually transmitted infections (STI), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and venereal diseases (VD), are infections that are commonly spread by sex, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex and oral sex.

Safe sex is sexual activity engaged in by people who have taken precautions to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV.

A midwife is a professional in midwifery.

Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 to 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Maternal death is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Perinatal mortality (PNM), also perinatal death, refers to the death of a fetus or neonate and is the basis to calculate the perinatal mortality rate.

Babinden (Bulgarian: Бабинден, Russian: Бабьи каши, Бабий день the Day of the baba or the Day of the midwife) is a traditional Bulgarian feast, celebrated on 8 January (21 January according to the Gregorian calendar), in honour of the women practicing midwifery.

Prenatal or antenatal development is the process in which a human embryo and later fetus (or foetus) develops during pregnancy, from fertilization until birth.

A breech birth occurs when a baby is born bottom first instead of head first.

Breast milk is the milk produced by the breasts (or mammary glands) of a human female for her baby.

Vaginismus, sometimes called vaginism and genito-pelvic pain disorder, is a condition that affects a woman's ability to engage in vaginal penetration, including sexual intercourse, manual penetration, insertion of tampons or menstrual cups, and the penetration involved in gynecological examinations (pap tests).

Prenatal diagnosis and prenatal screening are aspects of prenatal care that focus on detecting anatomic and physiologic problems with the zygote, embryo, or fetus as early as possible, either before gestation even starts (as in preimplantation genetic diagnosis) or as early in gestation as practicable.

Ovulation is the release of egg from the ovaries.

Decidua is the term for the uterine lining (endometrium) during a pregnancy, which forms the maternal part of the placenta.

Barbara Vernon, PhD.

Nutrition and weight management before and during pregnancy has a profound effect on the development of infants.

Pre-labor, also called "prodromal labor", consists of the early signs before labor starts.

Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are mistimed, unplanned or unwanted at the time of conception.

The New Space for Women’s Health, a project of the Friends of the Birth Center, is building an independent women's health and birth center in midtown Manhattan in early 2010 to provide an alternative center for women to receive health care and give birth in a respectful, attentive and private environment.

All My Babies: A Midwife's Own Story is a 1953 educational film produced and directed by George C.

In medicine (obstetrics), the term fetal distress refers to the presence of signs in a pregnant woman—before or during childbirth—that suggest that the fetus may not be well.

Female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD) is a disorder characterized by a persistent or recurrent inability to attain sexual arousal or to maintain arousal until the completion of a sexual activity.

Breastfeeding promotion refers to coordinated activities and policies to promote health among women, newborns and infants through breastfeeding.

John Burns FRS, (13 November 1775 – 18 June 1850) was a Scottish surgeon.

The amniotic sac, commonly called the bag of waters, sometimes the membranes, is the sac in which the fetus develops in amniotes.

Midwifery in the Middle Ages was important to women's lives and health prior to the professionalization of medicine.

John Maubray (1700–1732) was a Scottish physician, who practised in London as an early teacher of midwives.

Obstructed labour, also known as labour dystocia, is when, even though the uterus is contracting normally, the baby does not exit the pelvis during childbirth due to being physically blocked.

A shoulder presentation refers to a malpresentation at childbirth where the baby is in a transverse lie (its vertebral column is perpendicular to that of the mother), thus the leading part (the part that enters first the birth canal) is an arm, shoulder, or the trunk.

Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives is a 2012 documentary film about Ina May Gaskin directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore.

A nuchal cord occurs when the umbilical cord becomes wrapped around the fetal neck 360 degrees.

Women & Health is a peer-reviewed healthcare journal established in 1976.

Women's health in India can be examined in terms of multiple indicators, which vary by geography, socioeconomic standing and culture.

Prolonged labour is when the total duration of childbirth is greater than 24 hours.

Ronnie Sue Lichtman, CNM.

Morning sickness, also called nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), is a symptom of pregnancy that involves nausea or vomiting.

In obstetrics, a perineal tear is a spontaneous (unintended) laceration of the skin and other soft tissue structures which, in women, separate the vagina from the anus.

Daybreak in Udi is a 1949 British documentary film directed by Terry Bishop about cultural changes in Udi, Nigeria.

Friedrich Gabriel Sulzer (10 October 1749 – 14 December 1830) was a German physician from Gotha, Thuringia.

In pregnancy terms, quickening is the moment in pregnancy when the pregnant woman starts to feel or perceive fetal movements in the uterus.

Health Care for Women International is a monthly peer-reviewed healthcare journal covering health care and related topics that concern women around the globe.

The Ferguson reflex is the name given to the neuroendocrine reflex comprising the self-sustaining cycle of uterine contractions initiated by pressure at the cervix or vaginal walls.

A cephalic presentation or head presentation or head-first presentation is a situation at childbirth where the fetus is in a longitudinal lie and the head enters the pelvis first; the most common form of cephalic presentation is the vertex presentation where the occiput is the leading part (the part that first enters the birth canal).

Having a Great Birth in Australia is the second book from Australian writer David Vernon.

Eucharius Rösslin (Roslin, Rößlin), sometimes known as Eucharius Rhodion, (c. 1470 – 1526) was a German physician who authored a book about childbirth called Der Rosengarten ("The Rose Garden") in 1513, which became a standard medical text for midwives.

Sexual dysfunction (or sexual malfunction or sexual disorder) is difficulty experienced by an individual or a couple during any stage of a normal sexual activity, including physical pleasure, desire, preference, arousal or orgasm.

The Forgotten Frontier (1931) is a documentary film about the Frontier Nursing Service, nurses on horseback, who traveled the back roads of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky.

Sheila Helena Elizabeth Kitzinger MBE (29 March 1929 – 11 April 2015) was a British natural childbirth activist and author on childbirth and pregnancy.

Doppler fetal monitor or Baby Heartbeat Monitors is a handheld ultrasound baby heartbeat monitor used to hear an embroy or fetus' heartbeat.

Alexandria Regional Center for Women's Health and Development (formerly called The Suzanne Mubarak Regional Centre for Women's Health and Development) is a non-profit training and research center in Alexandria, Egypt.

David Vernon (born 1965 in Canberra, Australia) is an Australian writer and publisher.

A postpartum period or postnatal period is the period beginning immediately after the birth of a child and extending for about six weeks.