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Gestation

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Synonyms

Gravidity; Pregnancy

Definition

Gestation is the period of time during which the fetus develops in the uterus of a woman. It begins with conception and ends with birth.

The word originates from the Latin verb gestare, meaning to bear. When a woman is carrying more than one fetus, as is the case with twins or triplets, the term “multiple gestation” or “multifetal gestation” is used.

The term “gravida”, which originates from the Latin adjective gravidus, meaning pregnant or laden, refers to a woman who is currently pregnant. The term “primigravida” describes a woman who has become pregnant for the first time. A “nulligravida” is a woman who has never been pregnant before. The description “gravida 0”, “gravida 1”, gravida 2″, etc. refers to the number of pregnancies a woman has had including a current one.

The term “primipara”, which originates from the Latin verb parere, meaning to give birth or to produce, describes a woman who for the first time has given birth to one or more...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Pearl La Marca-Ghaemmaghami & Ulrike Ehlert

Authors
  1. Pearl La Marca-Ghaemmaghami
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  2. Ulrike Ehlert
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Correspondence to Pearl La Marca-Ghaemmaghami .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc Gellman

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Urs M. Nater

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La Marca-Ghaemmaghami, P., Ehlert, U. (2019). Gestation. In: Gellman, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_20-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_20-2

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