Pregnant in the context of "Medical ultrasonography"

In biology, infertility is the inability of a male and female organism to reproduce. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy organism that has reached sexual maturity, so children who have not undergone puberty, which is the body's start of reproductive capacity, are excluded. It is also a normal state in women after menopause.

In humans, infertility is defined as the inability to become pregnant after at least one year of unprotected and regular sexual intercourse involving a male and female partner. There are many causes of infertility, including some that medical intervention can treat. Estimates from 1997 suggest that worldwide about five percent of all heterosexual couples have an unresolved problem with infertility. That figure has been on the rise, with the World Health Organization (WHO) reporting in 2023 that about 17.5% of people experience infertility during their lifetime, while prevalence at a given time point is 12.6%. Many more couples, however, experience involuntary childlessness for at least one year, with estimates ranging from 12% to 28%.

In human reproduction, a live birth occurs when a fetus exits a pregnant female showing any definite sign of life, such as voluntary movement, heartbeat or pulsation of the umbilical cord, for however brief a time, and regardless of whether the umbilical cord or placenta are intact. After the fetus leaves the womb it is called a neonate. It is a "live birth" whether the birth is vaginal or by caesarean section, and whether the neonate is ultimately viable.

The definition of the term "live birth" was created by the World Health Organization in 1950, and is chiefly used for public health and statistical purposes. However, the term "live birth" was in common use long before 1950.

In biology and medicine, gravidity and parity are the number of times a female has been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational age (parity). These two terms are usually coupled, sometimes with additional terms, to indicate more details of the female's obstetric history. When using these terms:

• Gravida indicates the number of times a female 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.