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| Pregnancy Terms |
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Pregnancy terms starting with F
Get quick definitions of many of the most common pregnancy terms here! From fertility
treatment terminology to common pregnancy conditions to the stages of labor, find
out more about the hundreds of new words you will be hearing.
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Fresh eggs, sperm, or embryos
Category:
Conception and fertility
Eggs, sperm, or embryos that have not been frozen. However, fresh embryos may have been
conceived using either fresh or frozen sperm.
Face presentation
Category:
Labor and birth
A head-down birth position with neck extended (looking out) rather then tucked so the crown
of the head is presenting first.
False labor
Category:
Labor and birth
Non-progressive symptoms of labor. What distinguishes false labor from real labor is simply
that after a point, false labor does not progress and it eventually stops
Febrile
Category:
Labor and birth
A fever greater than 100 degrees F. or 38 C. occurring during labor and/or delivery.
Fertility awareness
Category:
Conception and fertility
Fertility awareness can help a woman to become more familiar with her own body, and enhance
her health and feelings of control over her health care. Fertility charting uses a woman's
naturally-occurring physical and emotional fertility signposts to determine when she is most
fertile. Simply by recording her signs of fertility and the feelings associated with each
part of her cycle, a woman becomes more in tune with her body. Any woman can easily learn to
identify her fertile and infertile phases by observing her basal body temperature (BBT) as
well as and changes in her cervix and cervical fluid (mucus).
Fertilization
Category:
Conception and fertility
The penetration of the egg by the sperm and the resulting fusion of genetic material that
develops into an embryo.
Fertilize
Category:
Conception and fertility
When the egg is penetrated by the sperm and the resulting fusion of genetic material
develops into an embryo.
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Category:
Birth defects
Fetal alcohol syndrome, known as FAS, is a disorder characterized by growth retardation,
facial abnormalities, and central nervous system dysfunction (CNS). FAS is caused by a
woman's use of alcohol during pregnancy.
Fetal blood sampler
Category:
High risk/Complications
A fetal blood sampler is a device used to obtain fetal blood transcervically through an
endoscope by puncturing the fetal skin with a short blade and drawing blood into a
heparinized tube. The fetal blood pH is determined and used in the diagnosis of fetal
distress and fetal hypoxia.
Fetal distress
Category:
Labor and birth
Signs indicating fetal hypoxia (deficiency in amount of oxygen reaching fetal tissues).
Fetal scalp electrode
Category:
Labor and birth
A fetal scalp circular (spiral) electrode and applicator is a device used to obtain a fetal
electrocardiogram during labor and delivery. It establishes electrical contact between fetal
skin and an external monitoring device by a shallow subcutaneous puncture of fetal scalp
tissue with a curved needle or needles.
Fetoscope
Category:
General pregnancy
A fetal stethoscope; A device used for listening to fetal heart sounds. It is designed to
transmit the fetal heart sounds not only through sound channels by air conduction, but also
through the user's head by tissue conduction into the user's ears. It does not use
ultrasonic energy. This device is designed to eliminate noise interference commonly caused
by handling conventional stethoscopes.
Fetus
Category:
General pregnancy
The unborn baby from the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth.
Follicle
Category:
Conception and fertility
It is a fluid-filled sac in the ovary that sustains the developing egg, and from which the
egg is released during ovulation. The follicle is stimulated to release the ovum by a
hormone called FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone), which is made by the pituitary gland.
Fontanelle
Category:
General pregnancy
The two "soft spots" between cranial plates on the baby's head. They are gaps in the skull
where bones have not yet fused.
Forceps
Category:
Labor and birth
Large tongs which are occasionally used to help assist the baby's delivery.
Fraternal twin
Category:
General pregnancy
Fraternal twins/triplets (dizygotic) are created when two or more separate eggs released
during the same ovulation cycle are fertilized by two separate sperm. The babies will not be
any more identical than normal siblings, and boy/girl combinations are possible. This type
of twinning is more likely to occur where there is maternal family history of fraternal
multiples.
Fundal height
Category:
General pregnancy
The height of the top of the uterus (fundus). After the 20th week of pregnancy, fundal
height (measured from above the pubic bone) is equal to the number of weeks of gestation.
(For example, at 25 weeks, the fundus will be about 25cm above the pubic bone.)
Fundus
Category:
General pregnancy
The top of the uterus. At 12 weeks of pregnancy, the fundus is at the top of the pubic bone
(symphysis pubis). At approximately 20 weeks, the fundus has reached your belly button
(umbilicus).
After the 20th week, fundal height (measured from above the pubic bone) is equal to the
number of weeks of gestation. (For example, at 25 weeks, the fundus will be about 25cm above
the pubic bone.)
More definitions
Click on any of the letters below to read more:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
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