Gravidity and parity
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- For other uses of the term in other fields, see parity.
In medicine, parity is a technical term that refers to the number of times a woman or female animal has given birth. A woman who has given birth a particular number of times is referred to as para 0, para 1, para 2, para 3 and so on.
- A woman who has never completedjj a pregnancy beyond 20 weeks is referred to as being nulliparous, a nullipara or para 0. [1]
- A woman in her first pregnancy can also be referred to as being primipara which can be shortened to primip.
- Biparous or bipara are sometimes used as synonyms for para 2.
- A woman who has given birth two or more times is referred to as multiparous or just as a multip. The term multiparous can also describe a birth of more than one offspring at once, in contrast to a uniparous birth of one offspring.
- Grand multipara refers to a (grand multiparous) woman who has given birth five or more times.
Parity is recorded in the format, T-P-A-L:
- T
- is the number of term births (twins and other multiple births count as 1)
- P
- is the number preterm births (twins and other multiple births count as 1)
- A
- is the number of abortions (spontaneous or induced)
- L
- is the number of living children.
For example, parity of a woman who has given birth at term once and has had one miscarriage would be recorded as P 1-0-1-1. This notation is not standardized and can lead to misinterpretations. [1]
Term births are those occurring at 37 weeks or beyond. Preterm births are those that occur before 37 weeks.
References
See also
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