OB - Exam 1 - Concepts/Vocab Flashcards
Gravidity
Pregnancy
Gravida
Woman who is pregnant
Multigravida
A woman who has had two or more pregnancies
Multipara
A woman who has completed two or more pregnancies to 20 or more weeks of gestation
Nulligravida
A woman who has never been pregnant
Nullipara
A woman who has not completed a pregnancy with a fetus or fetuses who have reached 20 weeks of gestation
Parity
Number of pregnancies in which the fetus or fetuses have reached 20 weeks of gestation when they are born, not the number of fetuses (e.g., twins) born.
Whether fetus is born alive or is stillborn does not affect parity.
Postdate / Postterm
Pregnancy that goes beyond 42 weeks of gestation
Preterm
Pregnancy has reached 20 weeks of gestation but ends before completion of 37 week of gestation
Primigravida
Woman who is pregnant for the first time
Primipara
Woman who has completed one pregnancy with fetus or fetuses who have reached 20 weeks of gestation
Term
A pregnancy from the completion of 37 weeks of gestation to the end of week 42 of gestation
Viability
Capacity to live outside the uterus; there are no clear limits of gestational age or weight.
Infants born at 22-25 weeks of gestation are considered to be at the threshold of viability and are vulnerable to brain injury if they survive.
Braxton-Hicks contractions
- Irregular and painless contractions that occur intermittently throughout pregnancy (soon after 4th month)
- Facilitate uterine blood flow through intervillous spaces of placenta – promote oxygen delivery to fetus
- Usually cease with walking or exercise
- Do not increase in intensity or frequency or cause cervical dilation
Ductus venosus
- Connects the umbilical vein to the inferior vena cava - most blood passes through
- From there, mixes with deoxygenated blood from fetal legs & abdomen on way to right atrium and through foramen ovale
(p. 279)
Ductus arteriosus
- Special circulatory pathway that bypasses lungs
- Joins the aorta and pulmonary artery
(p. 279)
Foramen ovale
- Temporary opening between the right and left atria
p. 280
Lightening
- Fundal height drops as the fetus begins to descend and engage in pelvis - most noticeable in first pregnancies
- Between weeks 38 - 40
- Occurs in nullipara 2 weeks before onset of labor and at start of labor in multipara
(p. 292)
Hegar sign
- Compressibility and softening of the lower uterine segment that occurs about week 6 of gestation
- Uterine fundus presses on urinary bladder, causing urinary frequency
- Considered probable sign of pregnancy
(p. 293)
Ballottement
- Rebounding of fetus against the examiner’s finger on palpation
- Can be identified generally between weeks 16-18
- When examiner taps on cervix, fetus floats upward in the amniotic fluid - examiner feels a rebound when fetus falls back
(p. 294)
Quickening
- Maternal perception of fetal movement for the first time, occurring usually in 16th-20th week of pregnancy
- Commonly described as flutter, difficult to distinguish from peristalsis
- Fetal movements gradually increase in intensity and frequency
(p. 294)
Goodell sign
- Softening of the cervical tip, observed approx 6th week of pregnancy
- Probable sign of pregnancy
- Caused by increased vascularity, slight hypertrophy, and hyperplasia (increased number of cells) of muscle and its connective tissue
(p. 293)
Chadwick sign
- Violet coloration of the mucous membranes of the cervix, vagina, and vulva
- Caused by increased vascularity
- May be evident as early as 6th week, but easily noticed at 8th week of pregnancy
- Probable sign of pregnancy
(p. 295)
Colostrum
- Creamy white-to-yellowish-to-orange pre-milk fluid
- May be expressed from the nipples as early as 16 weeks of gestation
(p. 296)