Guide for Pregnant Ladies to understand the Pregnancy Terms and Words, that are commonly used during Pregnancy by doctors (pregnancy words encyclopedia). These words will help you to understand what your doctor is referring to and what is going on inside your body.
A-Z of Pregnancy Terms and Words Meaning
Abdomen – The belly or stomach
Afterbirth (placenta) – Provides the baby with oxygen and food via the umbilical cord
Amniotic sac – The fluid-filled sac that contains and protects a fetus in the womb.
Amniotic fluid – The amniotic fluid is the protective liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a gravid amniote.
Antenatal – The time leading up to the birth.
Bag of waters – The amniotic sac, which holds the baby and the amniotic fluid
Birth canal – The vagina – through which the fetus passes during birth.
Braxton-Hicks contractions – Contractions that some women feel in late pregnancy (But, they’re not the real thing)
Cervix – The cervix is located between the womb and the vagina – it thins and opens during labor
Caesarean (operation) – When the baby is born by an operation where the doctor opens the uterus through a cut in the abdomen.
Colostrum – The first milk supply in the breasts after the birth of a baby. It’s yellowish in color and sticky. It’s very important to feed the first milk to the newborn baby just after the birth.
Contraction – the process in which a womb muscle becomes tighter.
Doppler – A small machine that can let you hear the baby’s heartbeat
Diarrhea – Your bowel movements become loose or watery.
E.D.B. – Expected Date of Birth
Egg – The ovum or female cell
Embryo – The ball of cells formed in the first weeks of pregnancy.
Endorphins – Natural painkillers your body produces
Fertilization Conception – Conception, when the egg is fertilized by the sperm after having sex or it may take up to five days.
Fallopian tubes – Female reproductive organs that connect the ovaries and the uterus. The tubes that lead from the ovary to the womb.
Fetus – The name given to the baby after 12 weeks of pregnancy
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) – It occurs in a baby whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. The baby may be born too small and may have unusual facial.
Gestational diabetes – Diabetes that is developed during pregnancy.
Hemorrhoids – Are usually caused by straining during bowel movements, obesity, or pregnancy.
Hormones – A chemical that controls part of the body’s functions. Hormones are chemical messengers.
Low vaginal swab – A swab taken from the lower vagina, just inside the entrance.
Miscarriage – Losing the Baby during Pregnancy. The death of a baby before the 20th week of Pregnancy.
Navel – The belly button
The neck of the womb – The cervix
Obstetrician – a doctor who deals with pregnancy and childbirth
Ovary – The organ that produces the female cell
Ovum – The female cell or egg
Perineum – Area between the vagina and the back passage
Placenta – The placenta is an organ that develops in your uterus during pregnancy. The placenta attaches to the wall of your uterus, and your baby’s umbilical cord arises from it. Blood from the mother passes through the placenta, filtering oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients to your baby via the umbilical cord.
Postnatal – The six weeks after giving birth.
Postnatal depression – Depression post-pregnancy.
Quickening – The first time you feel the baby’s movements when you are pregnant
Sperm – The male cell
Spontaneous abortion – Medical words for a miscarriage.
Umbilical cord – The umbilical cord is the tube-like structure that carries food and oxygen from a mother to their baby while pregnant.
Uterus (womb) – The uterus is the medical term for the womb.
Vagina – The front passage; the birth canal.
Source: www.health.nsw.gov.au
