Maternal Health Glossary: Your Texas Guide

Amniotic fluid: The fluid surrounding the baby inside the uterus protects and cushions the baby, helping regulate temperature.

Antenatal Care (ANC): Medical care and monitoring are provided to a pregnant woman throughout her pregnancy to ensure optimal health for both the mother and baby.

Antidepressants: Drugs used to treat depression.

Birth Defects: Physical problems that are present at birth.

Braxton Hicks Contractions: Irregular, often painless contractions that can occur during pregnancy, typically starting in the second trimester, and are sometimes referred to as “practice” contractions.

Cesarean Section (C-section): A surgical procedure used to deliver a baby through an incision made in the mother’s abdomen and uterus, often performed when vaginal delivery is not possible or safe.

CHIP: The Children’s Health Insurance Program provides healthcare coverage to eligible children, providing access to preventative care, immunizations, access to specialists, and treatment for pre-existing conditions.

Colostrum: The early form of breast milk produced during pregnancy and immediately after birth, rich in nutrients and antibodies that help protect the newborn.

Complications: Diseases or conditions that result from another disease or condition. An example of a pregnancy complication is preterm labor.

Congenital Syphilis: This occurs when a mother has untreated syphilis and passes the infection to the baby during pregnancy. Syphilis is a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) that can cause serious health problems without treatment.

Diabetes: Defined as pre-pregnancy diabetes (type 1 and 2) or within the first 20 weeks of gestation.

Digital Therapeutics (DTx): A category of digital health solutions that provides evidence-based, software-driven therapeutic interventions for preventing, managing, or treating a medical disorder or disease.

Doula:  Doulas are non-clinical, professional caregivers who provide physical, emotional, and informational support to pregnant people and their partners before, during, and after childbirth.

DSHS:  Texas Department of State Health Services

Early-Term Pregnancy:  37 weeks through 38 weeks and six days.

Episiotomy:  A surgical incision made in the perineum (area between the vagina and anus) during childbirth to prevent tearing and make the delivery easier.

Fetus: The stage of human development beyond eight completed weeks after fertilization.

Folic Acid: A B vitamin that is essential before and during pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth defects, especially neural tube defects like spina bifida.

Full-Term Pregnancy:  39 weeks through 40 weeks and six days.

Gestational Hypertension: Onset of high blood pressure after 20 weeks of gestation with previously normal blood pressure. Preeclampsia is a closely related condition and is diagnosed when a woman has gestational hypertension and increased protein in her urine. Preeclampsia can be life-threatening if left untreated.

Health Equity: This occurs when everyone has an equal opportunity to live the healthiest life possible regardless of who they are, where they live, or their income levels.

HHSC: Texas Health and Human Services

Hypertension: Pre-pregnancy hypertension is defined as the elevation of blood pressure above average for the birthing person’s age, sex, and physiological condition before the onset of the current pregnancy.

Labor:  The process of childbirth, beginning with contractions that lead to the dilation of the cervix and ending with the delivery of the baby and the placenta.

Late-Term Pregnancy:  41 weeks through 41 weeks and six days.

Low-Birth Rate:  Percentage of infants weighing less than 2,500 grams (5 pounds, 8 ounces) at birth.

Maternity Care Deserts: These are counties where geographic access to birthing hospitals, birth centers offering obstetric care, or obstetric providers is limited or absent. Women who are unable to receive adequate prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care face an increased likelihood of adverse maternal outcomes. According to the March of Dimes, over 1 in 4 women in rural Texas live more than 30 minutes from the nearest birthing hospital. In 2022, 47% of Texas counties were identified as Maternity Care Deserts compared to 33% in the U.S.

Maternal Death: The death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes (such as motor vehicle accidents).

Maternal Leave: A period of time taken off from work by a woman before and after childbirth to recover and care for her baby.

Maternal Mortality: Death during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period up to 365 days from the end of pregnancy. Direct maternal mortality results from the pregnancy itself or its management; indirect maternal mortality results from preexisting or new disease that is worsened by pregnancy.

Maternal Mortality Ratio: The number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Some also refer to the maternal mortality ratio as the maternal mortality rate. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports maternal mortality as a ratio, while the U.S. National Vital Statistics System reports maternal mortality as a rate.

Maternal Mortality Review Committee: Maternal mortality review committees (MMRCs) are multidisciplinary groups that convene at the state or local level to comprehensively review deaths that occur during or within one year of the end of pregnancy.

Medicaid: A state-federal partnership jointly funded by the states and federal government and administered by the states according to federal requirements to assist states in providing medical care to eligible people.

Midwifery: Midwifery as practiced by certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) encompasses the independent provision of care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period; sexual and reproductive health; gynecologic health; and family planning services, including preconception care.

Neonatal Mortality: The death of a live-born infant, regardless of gestational age at birth, within the first 28 days of life.

Obstetrician–Gynecologist (Ob-Gyn): A doctor with special training and education in women’s health.

Perinatal: The period from 22 completed weeks of gestation through seven days after birth.

Perinatal Regionalization Programs: These programs coordinate perinatal care for pregnant women and their newborns within a specific region. The goal is to improve maternal health outcomes by ensuring patients are transferred to hospitals with the necessary capabilities.

Placenta: The temporary organ that connects the developing baby to the uterine wall, providing oxygen and nutrients and removing waste products.

Postpartum: The period immediately after the birth of a child and up to 12 months after delivery.

Postpartum Depression: A type of depressive mood disorder that develops in the first year after the birth of a child. This type of depression can affect a woman’s ability to take care of her child.

Postpartum Psychosis: A rare psychiatric emergency that usually develops the first week after delivery. It can affect the health and life of mothers, infants, and families.

Post-Term Pregnancy:  42 weeks and beyond.

Preconception Health: The health of a woman before becoming pregnant.

Pregnancy-Associated, but Not Related Death: The death of a woman during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy from a cause that is not related to pregnancy.

Pregnancy-Associated, but Unable to Determine Pregnancy-Relatedness: The death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy due to a cause that could not be determined to be pregnancy-related or not pregnancy-related.

Pregnancy-Related Death: The death of a woman during pregnancy or within one year of the end of pregnancy from a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiological effects of pregnancy.

Pregnancy-Related Mortality Ratio: The number of pregnancy-related deaths (using the above definition) per 100,000 live births.

Prenatal Care: A program of care for a pregnant woman before the birth of her baby.

Prenatal Period: The period from conception to birth.

Preterm: Less than 37 weeks of pregnancy.

Preterm Birth Rate: The number of live births before 37 weeks gestation per 100 live births per year. It is a crucial indicator of maternal and infant health, highlighting the number of babies born prematurely in a given population.

Preventability: A death is considered preventable if there is at least some chance of it being prevented by one or more reasonable changes to the patient, family, provider, facility, system, and/or community factors. MMRCs use this definition to determine if a death they review is preventable.

Psychotherapy: Working with a therapist to identify problems and find ways to change behavior.

Reproductive Period: The period from first menarche to last menstruation when a woman can become pregnant and give birth.

Risk-Appropriate Care: A strategy developed to improve health outcomes for pregnant women and infants that ensures those at high risk of complications receive care at a birth facility that is best prepared to meet their health needs.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): A type of medication used to treat depression.

Severe Maternal Morbidity: Unintended outcomes of the process of labor and delivery that result in significant short-term or long-term consequences to a woman’s health.

SNAP: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps people in eligible low-income households buy the food they need for good health. Most people ages 16 to 59 must follow work rules to get SNAP benefits. Work rules mean a person must look for a job or be in an approved work program. If the person has a job, they can’t quit without a good reason. Some adults might not have to work to get benefits, such as those who have a disability or are pregnant.

Social Determinants of Health: Conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. Social determinants of health may impact maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.

Structural Racism: Refers to how societies can foster racial discrimination through mutually reinforcing systems of housing, education, employment, earnings, benefits, credit, media, healthcare, and criminal justice.

Texas Family Planning Program: The Family Planning Program (FPP) helps fund clinic sites across the state to provide high-quality, comprehensive, low-cost, and accessible family planning and reproductive health care services to Texans. These services help people plan the number and spacing of their children, reduce unintended pregnancies, improve future pregnancy and birth outcomes, and improve general health.

Texas Health Steps: This program provides free preventative healthcare and related services for children and adolescents with Medicaid from birth through age 20.

Title V Maternal & Child Health Block Grant: This federal program is authorized by Title V of the Social Security Act and devoted to improving the health of all women and children in the United States. Title V programs work to address healthcare inequities by increasing access to quality healthcare services and facilitating health promotion efforts.

Title V Clinic: A healthcare facility that provides medical services to lower-income families through funding from the federal Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant program.

Underserved Areas: Medically underserved areas and health professional shortage areas exist in all states, both urban and rural. It identifies geographic areas and populations with a lack of, and barriers to, access to health professionals and medical care services.

Ultrasound: A non-invasive imaging technique used to visualize the baby, assess its development, and check for any abnormalities during pregnancy.

UNICEF: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

Uterus: A muscular organ in the female pelvis. During pregnancy, this organ holds and nourishes the fetus. Also called the womb.

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC): A vaginal delivery attempted after a previous cesarean section, which may be considered if there are no contraindications.

WHO: World Health Organization

WIC: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutrition education, nutritious foods, referrals to health and human services, and breastfeeding support. Texas WIC improves the health and well-being of families by educating, empowering, and supporting women to breastfeed.

Sources: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American Medical Association, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), March of Dimes, Texas Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Maternal Mortality Review Committees (MMRCs)