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live birth

live birth

9 3.5
A baby born showing any sign of life
  • noun
  • /laɪv bɜrθ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : nacimiento vivo
  • They are mammals that give live birth to well developed young.
  • 1,000 live births
  • live birth rate
  • number of live births

Let's increase the odds that one of them actually does result in a live birth.

Examples

  • The deliveries included 28,961 live births and 107 stillborn events.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The rate that year was 108 black infant deaths per 1,000 live births and 72 white infant deaths.

    Academic text (1994)
  • Of women with at least one live birth, 14% had lost a child.

    Academic text (2011)
  • The rate for white mothers was 37.0 per 10,000 live births compared to 91.0 for black mothers.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The infant mortality rate is calculated based on the number of live births each year.

  • She was thrilled to announce the arrival of her baby after a difficult pregnancy ending in live birth.

  • Public health officials monitor the live birth rate to assess the overall health of the population.

Synonyms

liveborn infant
vslive birth
5.1

A baby who shows signs of life after birth, like breathing or a heartbeat

describes the moment of delivery rather than the living baby

Antonyms

miscarriage
  • Specialized
68 5.8

Loss of a pregnancy before the baby can live outside the mother's body

stillbirth
  • Specialized
5 7.5

A baby that dies inside its mother after 20 weeks of pregnancy and is born dead

Surface Forms

live birth singular
live births plural

Morphology

live + birth

The meaning is directly compositional: 'live' (alive) + 'birth' (the event of being born) yields the idea of a baby born showing signs of life, so a B1 learner who knows both words can derive the meaning. This is a common, cross-linguistically simple noun phrase (often used in medical contexts) and therefore fully transparent.

Etymology

Live birth began with doctors noting when a baby moved, breathed, or had a heartbeat at birth. They marked the birth as 'live' to show the baby was born alive, so today live birth means a baby born with any sign of life.