maternity

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The state of being a mother; motherhood.
• noun The feelings or characteristics associated with being a mother; motherliness.
• noun A maternity ward.
• adjective Relating to or effective during pregnancy, childbirth, or the first months of motherhood.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The state of being a mother; motherhood.
• noun A place for the care of mothers in childbirth; a lying-in ward or hospital.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The state of being a mother; motherhood.
• noun The character of a mother; maternal quality; motherliness.
• noun The maternity ward; the maternity department of a hospital.
• adjective Of or pertaining to childbirth or the period during which a woman is pregnant.
• adjective For use during pregnancy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The state of being a mother; motherhood.
• noun The state of being pregnant; pregnancy.
• noun A ward or department in a hospital in which babies are born.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus
• noun the kinship relation between an offspring and the mother
• noun the quality of having or showing the tenderness and warmth and affection of or befitting a mother