Common Acronyms
What are some common birth related acronyms?? There are a lot of two or three letter words being thrown around in social media posts or comments, it’s easy to get lost in the birth slang! Here are the common terms we tend to come across that are birth related! We will continue to add to this list as we come across or remember new acronyms! If you know of more, add them in the comments below!
Medical Providers Acronyms
Obstetrics Doctor: OB
Midwives:
CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife, licensed in all 50 states, can be in both a hospital, birth center, or home birth setting)
CPM (Certified Professional Midwife, licensed in about half the states, usually seen in a home birth setting),
CM (Certified Midwife, licensed in even fewer states). Each midwife has a different certification process, and state regulations determine if they can be legally licensed in the state.
Birth Locations Acronyms
LND: Labor and Delivery, the hospital floor that you would go to while in labor if delivering in a hospital
NICU: neonatal intensive care unit, a specialty unit for newborns after birth if they have complications that require additional care.
Pregnancy Related Acronyms
FSE: Fetal Spinal Electrode (internal fetal heartrate monitor)
GBS: Group Beta Strep; usually tested for around 36 weeks. If you have a positive result, the recommendation is typically antibiotics every four hours.
GHTN: Gestational Hypertension
IUPC: Intrauterine Pressure Catheter (internal contraction pressure monitor)GDMA or GDM or GD: Gestational Diabetes
PF: Pelvic Floor, the base of your core canister, the floor of your pelvis
PGP: Pelvic Girdle Pain; pain anywhere in the pelvis, usually either SPD or SJD
PRE-E: Pre-Eclampsia
ROM: Rupture of Membranes (Water Breaking)
AROM: Artificial Rupture of Membranes (someone breaks your water for you)
SROM: Spontaneous (your water breaks and you have contractions)
PROM: Premature (your water breaks and you have no contractions)
PPROM: Pre-Premature (you are earlier than 37 weeks and your water breaks, immediately go to the hospital)
SCD: Subchorionic Hemorrhage
SJD: SI Joint Dysfunction; pain in the back of the pelvis, usually towards one side with single leg movements, such as walking or pivoting.
SPD: pubic symphysis dysfunction; pain in the front of the pelvis, usually towards the center with single leg or pivoting movements.
Birth Related Acronyms
Anterior Lip: 9.5cm, usually just a small portion of the cervix is still present to the front. Usually goes away in a few contractions or provider may offer to push it over baby’s head.
APGAR: Assessment of baby after birth; rates their Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration. Done at 1 and 5 minutes after birth. Highest score can be 10, but usually only as high as 9 at first.
Dilation: 0-10cm, closed to open, how open or wide the cervix is
Effacement: 0-100%, thick to thin, how thin the cervix is
Fetal Stations:
Reference point is presenting part of baby (head if cephalic or head down, for example) in comparison to the ischial spine (portion in back of pelvis near sacrum and sitz bones)
Minus Numbers: -5…-1 are above the ischial spine.
Plus Numbers: +1… +5 (crowning or head born) are below the ischial spine
0 station is at the ischial spine
Fetal Positions: Occiput is the reference point and the back of baby’s head
OA: Occiput Anterior (back of head towards the front or towards your belly button)
LOA/ROA: Left/Right Occiput Anterior (back of head towards the left or right diagonally to the front)
OP: Occiput Posterior (back of head towards your spine)
LOP/ROP: Left/Right Occiput Posterior (back of head diagonally to the back)
LOT/ROT: Left/Right Occiput Transverse (back of head towards either hip)
FTM: First Time Mom
Multip: someone who’s has multiple babies
Natural Birth Acronyms: may refer to unmedicated birth, or birth without an epidural. Not our preferred way to refer to this desired birth plan; we usually refer to it as unmedicated which can be defined individually as to what that means to someone (no medication at all or no epidural but everything else is cool)
Primip: someone who’s this is their first baby
Pit: Pitocin, artificial oxytocin given to induce or augment labor by causing contractions.
TTC: Trying to Conceive
TWW: Two Week Wait (period between ovulation and waiting to take a pregnancy test)
VBAC:
VBAC: Vaginal Birth After C-Section (refers to the outcome of the birth, but may be used to reference when someone wants to have a vaginal birth after having had a csection in a previous birth, such as a VBAC Mom, even if they have not yet had a vaginal birth)
VBAMC or VBA2C: Vaginal Birth After (Multiple/Two) C-Sections
2VBAC: Second Vaginal Birth After C-Section (someone who has already had a vaginal birth after their csection, and wants to have another or actively in labor wanting a vaginal birth)
HBAC: Homebirth After C-Section
CBAC: Csection After C-Section
RCS: Repeat Csection
CS: Csection
TOLAC: Trial of Labor After C-Section (being in labor or trying for a vaginal birth after having had a c-section for a previous birth)
Postpartum Acronyms
EBF: Exclusively Breastfed
DR or DRA: Diastasis Recti Abdominis or the normally occurring separation of the six pack abs during pregnancy. May linger postpartum.
IBCLC: Lactation Consultant , supports breastfeeding and infant feeding postpartum.
PFPT: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist, specialist in the pelvic floor
PP: Postpartum