Birth - Medical Meanings

Medical Meanings

• Afterbirth is synonymous with placenta, born following the birth of the infant.
• Water birth is a birth where the mother delivers the child in a pool of water.
• Birth canal is the term used for the vagina during birth, as it is the route through which the infant passes during a vaginal birth.
• Birth control methods are devices, medications or behavior patterns employed to reduce the probability of pregnancy.
• Birth doula is the term for a labor assistant who provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, and other assistance to expectant mothers, partners, families, and baby before, during, and after childbirth. A postpartum doula provides support after birth, and specializes in postpartum care for mother and infant, infant attachment, and other newborn care. The term "doula" stems from the Greek doulos, or "one who serves."
• Birth pangs or labor pains are the pains felt by the mother during labor, resulting from contractions of the uterus and pressure on nerves and organs.
• Caesarean section or C-section is surgical birth through the wall of the abdomen.
• Childbirth is the process at the end of a human pregnancy that results in a baby being born.
• Lotus birth is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after birth so that the baby is left attached to its placenta until the cord separates naturally.
• Midwife is the term for a health care provider who provides at-home health care for expecting mothers, delivers the baby during birth, and provides postpartum care.
• Multiple birth is the birth of two (twins), three (triplets), four (quadruplets), etc., babies resulting from a single pregnancy.
• Natural childbirth is the technique of minimizing medical intervention, particularly anaesthetics, during childbirth.
• Placenta is the organ in most female mammals, formed in the lining of the uterus by the union of the uterine mucous membrane with the membranes of the fetus, that provides for the nourishment of the fetus and the elimination of its waste products.
• Unassisted childbirth (UC) is birth without the aid of medical or professional birth attendants. It is also known as freebirth.