Obstetrics

Antiphospholipid syndrome or antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS or APLS), or often also Hughes syndrome, is an autoimmune, hypercoagulable state caused by antiphospholipid antibodies.

Uterine rupture is a potentially catastrophic event during childbirth by which the integrity of the myometrial wall is breached.

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.

Rh disease (also known as rhesus isoimmunisation, Rh (D) disease, rhesus incompatibility, rhesus disease, RhD hemolytic disease of the newborn, rhesus D hemolytic disease of the newborn or RhD HDN) is a type of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).

A multiple birth is the culmination of one multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother delivers two or more offspring.

HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening obstetric complication usually considered to be a variant or complication of pre-eclampsia.

A midwife is a professional in midwifery.

Sheehan's syndrome, also known as Simmond's syndrome, postpartum hypopituitarism or postpartum pituitary gland necrosis, is hypopituitarism (decreased functioning of the pituitary gland), caused by ischemic necrosis due to blood loss and hypovolemic shock during and after childbirth.

Eclampsia is the onset of seizures (convulsions) in a woman with pre-eclampsia.

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.

In placental mammals, the umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or funiculus umbilicalis) is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta.

Neonatal jaundice or neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, or neonatal icterus (from the Greek word ἴκτερος), attributive adjective: icteric, is a yellowing of the skin and other tissues of a newborn infant.

In vitro fertilisation (or fertilization; IVF) is a process by which an egg is fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro ("in glass").

Braxton Hicks contractions, also known as prodromal labor or practice contractions, or false labor, are sporadic uterine contractions that sometimes start around six weeks into a pregnancy.

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.

The Lamaze technique, also known as the psychoprophylactic method or simply Lamaze, started as a prepared childbirth technique popularized in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr.

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 vertically transmitted infection (or mother-to-child transmission) is an infection caused by bacteria, viruses, or in rare cases, parasites transmitted directly from the mother to an embryo, fetus, or baby during pregnancy or childbirth.

The placenta (also known as afterbirth) is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, provide thermo-regulation to the fetus, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply, fight against internal infection and produce hormones to support pregnancy.

A teratoma is a tumor with tissue or organ components resembling normal derivatives of more than one germ layer.

Lactation failure or deficiency, also known as agalactia or agalactorrhea, as well as hypogalactia or hypogalactorrhea, is a medical condition in which lactation is insufficient or fails completely due to an inadequacy of breast milk production and/or a failure of the milk let-down reflex in response to suckling following childbirth, resulting in an inability to properly breastfeed.

Polyhydramnios (polyhydramnion, hydramnios, polyhydramnios) is a medical condition describing an excess of amniotic fluid in the amniotic sac.

A surrogacy arrangement or surrogacy agreement is the carrying of a pregnancy for intended parents.

Postterm pregnancy is the condition of a baby that has not yet been born after 42 weeks of gestation, two weeks beyond the normal 40.

Couvelaire uterus (also known as uteroplacental apoplexy) is a life-threatening condition in which loosening of the placenta (abruptio placentae) causes bleeding that penetrates into the uterine myometrium forcing its way into the peritoneal cavity.

"Striae" is also a general term referring to thin, narrow grooves or channels, or a thin line or band especially if several of them are parallel or close together.

Jane Sharp was a 17th-century English midwife.

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

Congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM), formerly known as congenital cystic adenomatoid malformation (CCAM), is a congenital disorder of the lung similar to bronchopulmonary sequestration.

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

Cord Blood Registry is a biotechnology company headquartered in San Bruno, California, founded in 1992 by father and daughter Tom Moore and Wendy Grant.

Cannabis consumption in pregnancy might be associated with restrictions in growth of the fetus, miscarriage, and cognitive deficits in offspring based on animal studies, however there is limited evidence for this in humans at this time.

Streptococcus agalactiae (also known as group B streptococcus or GBS) is a gram-positive coccus (round bacterium) with a tendency to form chains (as reflected by the genus name Streptococcus).

Sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) is a type of tumor known as a teratoma that develops at the base of the coccyx (tailbone) and is thought to be derived from the primitive streak.

Foetal cerebral redistribution or 'brain-sparing' is a diagnosis in foetal medicine.

Ropivacaine (rINN) /roʊˈpɪvəkeɪn/ is a local anaesthetic drug belonging to the amino amide group.

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.

The International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG, the Society for Women’s Imaging) is a professional membership association and charity registered in England and Wales.

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).

Meconium peritonitis refers to rupture of the bowel prior to birth, resulting in fetal stool (meconium) escaping into the surrounding space (peritoneum) leading to inflammation (peritonitis).

Nitrazine or phenaphthazine is a pH indicator dye often used in medicine.

Rho(D) immune globulin or Rh0(D) immune globulin (letter o and digit zero are both widely attested; more at Rh blood group system - Rh nomenclature) is a medicine given by intramuscular injection that is used to prevent the immunological condition known as Rh disease (or hemolytic disease of newborn).

Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

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