primigravida

plural primigravidas · plural primigravidae · archaic plural primigravidæ

1. biologyA woman or female animal who is pregnant for the first time, or who has been pregnant once.First known use late 19th c.

   In the second stage [of labour] for a primigravida, Caesarean section is the method of choice; with a multigravida, a vaginal delivery should be attempted.

   1978, Lance Townsend, “Caesarean Section: The Types of Operation”, in Obstetrics for Students, 3rd edition, Melbourne, Vic.; Sydney, N.S.W.: The Macmillan Company of Australia, →DOI, →ISBN, page 566

   5 more examples

   [...] [Friedrich] Schatz advises all pregnant women, especially primigravidæ, to consult a physician during the last portion of their pregnancy, and ascertain from him the position of the child, and the necessity, if present, of altering it before labor sets in.

   1874 February, “The Conversion of a Facial into a Vertex Presentation by External Manipulation only. By Friedrich Schatz, Rostock. (Archiv für Gynäkologie, v. 2. 1873.)”, in B. F. Dawson, editor, The American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, volume VI, number 4, New York, N.Y.: William Wood & Co., publishers, […]; London: John Churchill’s Sons, […], →OCLC, page 659

   In connection with the case, I should like to remind you of the fact that extra-uterine pregnancy occurs more frequently in multigravidae than in primigravidae. This has an important bearing on the etiology of ectopic gestation.

   1906 February 12, George Gellhorn, “The Diagnosis of Tubal Pregnancy before Rupture”, in Albert E. Taussig, A. S. Bleyer, editors, Quarterly Bulletin: Medical Department of Washington University, volume IV, number 3, St. Louis, Mo.: [Medical Department of Washington University] office of publication, 1806 Locust Street, […], published March 1906, →OCLC, page 167

   The overwhelming majority of primigravidas seen at the clinic are in their middle teens. All but two of these primigravidas were pregnant before their eighteenth birthday. Of thirty-eight primigravidas interviewed none had completed high school; and of these, the ones that were married had husbands who were engaged in low-skill, manual, low-paying occupations.

   1975, María-Luisa Urdaneta, “Fertility and the ‘Pill’ in a Texas Barrio”, in Stanley R. Ingman, Anthony E. Thomas, editors, Topias and Utopias in Health: Policy Studies (World Anthropology), The Hague; Paris: Mouton Publishers, →ISBN, page 75

   Primigravidas who find themselves pregnant before they are ready may be more amenable to acceptance if social and financial circumstances are deemed adequate. Multiparas, on the other hand, who feel they have more children than they want may not be abl to overcome feelings of rejection.

   1984, Regina P. Lederman, “Anxiety and Conflict in Pregnancy: Relationship to Maternal Health Status”, in Harriet H[elen] Werley, Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, editors, Annual Review of Nursing Research, volume 2, New York, N.Y.: Springer Publishing Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, part I (Research on Nursing Practice), page 35

   In the primigravida, particularly the heifer and bitch, it is often found that the cause of the dystocia is relatively simple, such as a slight fetomaternal disproportion, and the application of a little assistance is all that is required.

   2009, David Noakes, “The Approach to an Obstetric Case”, in David E. Noakes, Timothy J. Parkinson, Gary C. W. England, editors, Veterinary Reproduction and Obstetrics, 9th edition, Edinburgh; London: Saunders Elsevier, →ISBN, pages 223–224

   Synonyms: primigravid, primipara · Antonyms: multigravid, multigravida, multipara