Gravidity and parity

In biology and human medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a female is or has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional terms, to indicate more details of the woman's obstetric history. When using these terms: Gravida indicates the number of times a woman is or has been pregnant, regardless of the pregnancy outcome. A current pregnancy, if any, is included in this count. A multiple pregnancy (e.g., twins, triplets, etc.) is counted as 1. Parity, or "para", indicates the number of births (including live births and stillbirths) where pregnancies reached viable gestational age. A multiple pregnancy (e.g., twins, triplets, etc.) carried to viable gestational age is still counted as 1. Abortus is the number of pregnancies that were lost prior to viable gestational age for any reason, including induced abortions or miscarriages but not stillbirths. The abortus term is sometimes dropped when no pregnancies have been lost. In human medicine, "gravidity" refers to the number of times a woman has been pregnant, regardless of whether the pregnancies were interrupted or resulted in a live birth. “Gravidity” is an important component of a patient’s reproductive history, as it provides insight into the risk factors that the patient has for pregnancy outcomes, such as risk for gestational diabetes, pre-ecclampsia, spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, fetal growth restriction, and more. The gravidity of the patient is associated with risk for other conditions as well, including risk for breast, ovarian, and endometrial cancer. Knowing a patient’s obstetric history in a prenatal assessment or early in gestation allows the patient to receive early intervention to prevent these associated risks. The term "gravida" can be used to refer to a pregnant woman. A "nulligravida" is a woman who has never been pregnant. A "primigravida" is a woman who is pregnant for the first time or has been pregnant once.