Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
obstetrics

obstetrics

13 4.4
The branch of medicine that cares for women during pregnancy and childbirth
  • noun
  • /əbˈstɛtrɪks/
  • Specialized
translation icon : obstetricia
  • Williams urged both improvements in medical school curriculum in obstetrics and education for midwives to help decrease unacceptably high mortality rates.
  • obstetrics and gynecology
  • Department of Obstetrics
  • professor of obstetrics

C-section is an important operation in the field of obstetrics, right?

Examples

  • Sister Shipp went on to establish the School of Nursing and Obstetrics in 1879.

    Blog text (31)

  • The law also requires abortion providers to be certified in obstetrics and gynecology or eligible for such certification.

    Blog text (18)

  • I have no training in Obstetrics.

    Booty Call (1997)

  • Dr. Moore needs some help in Obstetrics.

    Booty Call (1997)

  • As physicians sought to improve the training of obstetrics, they also sought a patient population from which they could learn.

    Academic text (1994)

  • There are no Catholic hospitals with obstetrics departments in my state, possibly the whole country.

    Blog text (34)

  • As a doctor with a diploma in obstetrics, I can attest to this.

    Blog text (22)

  • Nurse Blessing, you're wanted in obstetrics.

    Amityville: The Evil Escapes (1989)

  • Nurse-midwives practice obstetrics and gynecological care from a different perspective than physicians.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The hospital's obstetrics department specializes in providing care for expectant mothers during childbirth.

Synonyms

OB
vsobstetrics
  • Specialized
30 4.6

The part of medicine that cares for women during pregnancy and childbirth

is the full formal name rather than a short abbreviation
obs
vsobstetrics
  • Jargon
8.7

A hospital unit that cares for pregnant women and helps during childbirth

is the formal medical specialty term rather than informal department name
tocology
vsobstetrics
  • Archaic
9.9

The medical field that cares for women during childbirth and delivery

covers childbirth and care beyond just the labor and delivery stage

How Specialized

endocrinological
  • Specialized
1 7.5
obstetrics
  • Specialized
13 4.4
gynecology
  • Specialized
9 4.1
women's health
  • Specialized
29 2.8
primary care
47 3.0

Surface Forms

obstetrics singular
obstetrics plural

Morphology

obstetrics = obstetric (transparent) = obstetric + ics

Formed from the adjective 'obstetric' plus the discipline-forming suffix '-ics', so the meaning (the medical field concerning childbirth) follows predictably from the base.

Etymology

Obstetrics comes from the Latin obstetrix meaning 'midwife', built from ob- 'before' and stare 'to stand', so a midwife was someone who 'stands before' a woman to help during birth. That's why obstetrics is the part of medicine that cares for childbirth and women giving birth.