What Does the Phrase “gravida 2 Para 1” Mean?
Medical professionals use the phrase “gravida 2 para 1” to refer to a woman who has been pregnant a total of two times and carried only one of those pregnancies to the age of viability. Gravida refers to the number of times the woman has been pregnant. Para refers to the number of pregnancies resulting in a birth whether the birth was stillborn or living.
The gravida number is fairly straightforward. Doctors include every pregnancy regardless of the outcome. A woman who has never been pregnant is a gravida 0, or a nulligravida. Para or parity is more confusing. As the age of viability drops with better available medical interventions, doctors disagree on the status of pregnancies carried to 20 to 24 weeks. In some areas, the para terminology includes pregnancies ending at 20 to 24 weeks regardless of the outcome. In other areas, para only includes live births from 20 to 24 weeks and both live and stillbirths after 24 weeks.
