Gravidity

(written by lawrence krubner, however indented passages are often quotes). You can contact lawrence at: lawrence@krubner.com, or follow me on Twitter.

The word comes from Latin, meaning heavy or burdened:

In human medicine, “gravidity” refers to the number of times a woman has been pregnant,[1] regardless of whether the pregnancies were interrupted or resulted in a live birth.

The term “gravida” can be used to refer to a pregnant woman.

A “nulligravida” is a woman who has never been pregnant.

A “primigravida” is a woman who is pregnant for the first time or has been pregnant one time.

A “multigravida” or “secundogravida” is a woman who has been pregnant more than one time.

Terms such as “gravida 0”, referring to a nulligravida, “gravida 1” for a primigravida, and so on, can also be used. The term “elderly primigravida” has also been used to refer to a woman in her first pregnancy, who is at least 35 years old. This term is becoming less common as it may be considered offensive.[3]

In biology, the term “gravid” (Latin: gravidus “burdened, heavy”[4]) is used to describe the condition of an animal (most commonly fish or reptiles) when carrying eggs internally. For example, Astatotilapia burtoni females can transform between reproductive states, one of which is gravid, and the other non-gravid. In entomology it describes a mated female insect.

Post external references

  1. 1
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravidity_and_parity
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