Obs & gynae dictionary

Placenta separates before birth — painful bleeding and a hard, tender uterus.

Endometrial tissue inside the uterine muscle — painful heavy periods, bulky uterus.

No periods.

Breaking the waters with an amnihook to start or speed up labour.

Bleeding from the genital tract from 24 weeks until birth.

Scarring inside the uterus after curettage — scanty or absent periods.

How flexed or extended the baby’s head is on its body.

Speeding up slow labour with ARM and/or oxytocin.

Visible ridge between upper and lower segment in obstructed labour — rupture warning.

Infected, swollen gland at the vaginal opening.

0–13 score of how ready the cervix is for induction; above 6 is favourable.

Baby’s bottom or feet lie lowest instead of the head.

Head partly extended; largest diameter (mentovertical 13 cm) — usually needs CS.

Blood marker raised in ovarian cancer (and endometriosis, PID, pregnancy).

Soft scalp swelling from pressure in labour; crosses suture lines.

Blood under the scalp bone covering; does not cross suture lines.

Infection of membranes and liquor: fever, tender uterus, fetal tachycardia.

Pre-cancer cell changes in the cervix, grades 1 to 3.

Magnified look at the cervix after an abnormal screen.

Cephalopelvic disproportion — head too big to pass through the pelvis.

Head stays visible at the vulva between contractions.

Trace of fetal heart rate and contractions.

Bladder bulging into the front vaginal wall.

Drop in fetal heart rate >15 bpm lasting >15 seconds.

Reference point on the presenting part used to name position (occiput, mentum, sacrum).

Painful periods.

Pain during sex.

Seizure in a woman with pre-eclampsia.

Pregnancy outside the uterus, usually in the tube.

External cephalic version — turning a breech baby head-down through the abdomen.

Expected date of delivery — LMP plus 280 days.

Thinning and shortening of the cervix in labour.

Thickened womb lining; with atypia it can turn into cancer.

Ovarian cyst of endometriosis (“chocolate cyst”).

Womb-lining-like tissue outside the uterus causing pain and subfertility.

Widest part of the head has passed the pelvic brim (≤2/5 palpable).

Cut in the perineum to widen the vaginal opening at birth.

Head fully extended; mentum anterior can deliver vaginally, mentum posterior cannot.

Fetal growth restriction — baby not reaching its growth potential.

Benign muscle lump of the uterus (leiomyoma).

How much of the head is felt above the brim, in fifths (5/5 free to 0/5 deep).

Pubic bone to top of uterus in cm; roughly equals weeks after 24 weeks.

Gestational diabetes — high blood sugar first found in pregnancy.

Number of times a woman has been pregnant, including now.

Periods heavy enough to affect daily life.

Haemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, Low Platelets — severe pre-eclampsia.

Abnormal fluid in two or more fetal body compartments.

Blocked tube filled with fluid.

Severe pregnancy vomiting with dehydration, ketosis and weight loss.

Removal of the uterus (total = with cervix; subtotal = cervix kept).

Camera inside the uterus to look at or treat the cavity.

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy — itching with raised bile acids.

Copper coil / hormone (levonorgestrel) coil placed in the uterus.

Intrauterine fetal death (stillbirth from 24 weeks).

Blood test measuring fetal cells in mother’s blood to dose anti-D.

Baby’s long axis vs mother’s: longitudinal, transverse or oblique.

Baby drops into the pelvis in late pregnancy; breathing feels easier.

Amniotic fluid.

Loop excision of the cervical transformation zone.

Vaginal loss after birth: red, then pink, then white over ~6 weeks.

Large baby, usually birthweight above 4 kg (or 4.5 kg).

Baby’s first stool; in the liquor it may signal fetal distress.

First menstrual period.

No periods for 12 months after ovaries stop working.

Older term for heavy menstrual bleeding.

Pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.

Pregnancy has stopped developing but nothing has been passed yet.

Major obstetric haemorrhage — loss >1000 ml or ongoing bleeding with shock.

Abnormal placental growth with very high hCG (complete or partial mole).

Overlap of fetal skull bones as the head passes through the pelvis.

Woman who has given birth before (para ≥1).

Woman who has never given birth at or after 24 weeks.

Obstetric anal sphincter injury — 3rd or 4th-degree tear.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome after fertility drugs — big ovaries, fluid shifts.

Too little amniotic fluid.

Ovary twists and loses blood supply — sudden pain, surgical emergency.

Number of births at or after 24 weeks, alive or stillborn.

Chart tracking labour progress and maternal and fetal wellbeing.

Irregular periods, high androgens and/or polycystic ovaries.

Infection of uterus, tubes and ovaries, often sexually transmitted.

Placenta grows too deep into the uterine wall and will not separate.

Placenta over or near the cervix — painless bright red bleeding.

Postmenopausal bleeding — needs urgent assessment for cancer.

Premature ovarian insufficiency — ovaries fail before 40.

Too much amniotic fluid.

Where the denominator points in the mother’s pelvis, e.g. LOA.

Blood loss of 500 ml or more after birth.

Waters break before labour and before 37 weeks.

New high BP after 20 weeks plus protein in urine or organ dysfunction.

Part of the baby lying lowest: cephalic, breech or shoulder.

The lowest part felt on vaginal examination (vertex, face, buttock…).

Pregnant for the first time.

Whole uterus prolapsed outside the vagina.

Pelvic organs bulge into or out of the vagina.

The 6 weeks after birth while the body returns to normal.

Pregnancy of unknown location — positive test, nothing seen on scan.

Rectum bulging into the back vaginal wall.

Head turns back 45° after birth to line up with the shoulders.

Risk of Malignancy Index for a pelvic mass (U × M × CA-125).

Removal of a fallopian tube.

Head born but shoulders stuck behind the pubic bone.

Blood-stained mucus plug passed as the cervix starts to change.

Level of the presenting part vs the ischial spines (−3 to +3).

Baby born with no signs of life at or after 24 weeks.

Leaking urine on coughing, sneezing or exercise.

Sagittal suture lies midway between symphysis and sacrum; asynclitism = tilted.

Drugs to stop or slow contractions (e.g. nifedipine, atosiban, terbutaline).

Lie keeps changing after 37 weeks.

Sudden urge then leaking — overactive bladder.

Uterus turns inside out after birth — shock out of proportion to bleeding.

Tear through the uterine wall, usually at a scar — fetal distress, pain, loss of station.

Involuntary spasm of vaginal muscles making penetration painful.

Fetal vessels cross the cervix and can tear and bleed fetal blood.

Vaginal birth after a previous caesarean.

Area of fetal skull between the fontanelles and parietal eminences.