Definitions

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

  • adjective Of or relating to the profession of obstetrics or the care of women during and after pregnancy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Same as obstetrical.

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

  • adjective Of or pertaining to childbirth, midwifery, or the period around the time of the birth of children.
  • adjective Of or pertaining to obstetrics.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a European toad of the genus Alytes, especially Alytes obstetricans. The eggs are laid in a string which the male winds around his legs, and carries about until the young are hatched.

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

  • adjective Of, or relating to obstetrics (the care of women during and after pregnancy).

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

  • adjective of or relating to or used in or practicing obstetrics

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin obstetrīcius, pertaining to a midwife, from obstetrīx, obstetrīc-, midwife, from obstitus, past participle of obstāre, to stand opposite to : ob-, opposite to; see ob– + stāre, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word obstetric.

Examples

  • The humiliating injury is called obstetric fistula, a tear in the tissue between the vagina and adjoining organs, caused by prolonged labor in small, undernourished women-and now almost unknown outside the poorest countries of Africa and Asia.

    NCBlogs 2010

  • Some of the women have been unable to control the flow of urine and faeces from their bodies for many years due to a medical condition known as obstetric fistula.

    AllAfrica News: Latest 2008

  • I am visiting the Jimma Referral Hospital as part of a trip sponsored by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which provides support for the government's program to train non-physician clinicians to perform procedures, such as obstetric surgery, traditionally performed by doctors.

    Hanna Ingber Win: Mothers Of Ethiopia Part I: Zemzem's Journey 2009

  • This unmet need may result in death or painful disabilities, such as obstetric fistula.

    How to Prevent the Death Of Expectant Mothers 2008

  • Apart from the pain and trauma it causes, circumcision may lead to various forms of infection, incontinence, sterility and difficulties in child birth, such as obstetric fistulas.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • Except at times and in places influenced by Catholic principles, what medical writers call "obstetric" abortion, as distinct from "criminal" (though both are indefensible on moral grounds), has always been a common practice.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913

  • Millions of those with major complications get no treatment and either die or suffer from severe and debilitating conditions such as obstetric fistula.

    unknown title 2009

  • Millions of those with major complications get no treatment and either die or suffer from severe and debilitating conditions such as obstetric fistula.

    unknown title 2009

  • This kind of obstetric medicine quite literally rendered women helpless to manage their own minds and bodies.

    feminist blogs 2009

  • The reality is that women get busy with their new family, says Dr. Ellen Landsberger, obstetric diabetes director at New York's Montefiore Medical Center, whose clinic takes steps to track those patients down.

    Diabetes in pregnancy a risk for mom years later 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Your examples relate to the usage of "obstetric" in the health domaine. Here's one that relates to philosophy:

    "Therefore he called his method the 'maieutic' or 'obstetric' art."

    December 10, 2009