howMed Know Yourself
Fertility refers to the number of live births women have. Terms used in connection with fertility include the following:
Fecundity:
Fecundity refers to the physiological capability of women to reproduce.
Live Birth:
The outcome of expulsion of conception form its mother and detachment of placenta after which the baby shows some signs of life such as movement of umbilical cord, pulse, breathing or movement of heart etc.
Still Birth:
An outcome of expulsion of conception from its mother and detachment of placenta after which the baby dose not show any sign of life such as movement of umbilical cord or movement of heart etc.
Parity:
Parity is the number of children born alive to a woman.
Effective Fertility:
The term is sometimes used when late fetal deaths (including miscarriages, abortions and stillbirths), and in some cases the deaths of infants or children are excluded from consideration.
Total fertility
It refers to live births miscarriages abortions and still births.
Premature Delivery:
Premature delivery or premature confinement or premature birth means an end of the pregnancy before the normal period but after six months premature babies normally weigh less than 5.5 pounds or 2.5 kilograms.
Birth At Term:
When the birth takes place not before six months of pregnancy and at around nine months.
Reproductive Period:
This period begins from the menarche or appearance of the first period or menses in women, and ends at menopause, that is the ceasing of menses.
Sterility
Sterility means incapability of a woman to produce a child. A sterile couple can not produce a child. The sterility may be due to either or both partners
Primary Sterility:
A woman who has never been able to produce a child.
Secondary Sterility:
Means a woman unable to produce a child after giving birth to at least one child. It could be permanent or temporary in nature.
Temporary Sterility:
A woman has a sterile period in each menstrual cycle because generally conception can occur only during a few days around the time of ovulation days and during puerperium period that is, the period of six weeks after delivery during which the uterus usually regains its normal size and in which the probability of conception is very low.
