childbirth

noun

ˈchī(-ə)l(d)-ˌbərth How to pronounce childbirth (audio)
Definition of childbirthnext
as in pregnancy
the act or process of giving birth to children women who choose to undergo childbirth without the use of anesthetics and other drugs

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of childbirth Contraception is critical to helping adolescent girls avoid unintended pregnancies and the risks of childbirth, particularly given Africa’s high maternal mortality rates, experts say. — ABC News, 9 Oct. 2026 The 44-year-old also thanked her medical team, while mentioning a challenging childbirth experience. — Anna Halkidis, Parents, 29 Sep. 2026 Without affordable medical care or social welfare, people die of tooth decay and childbirth and exposure to the cold come winter. — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026 The human neurons suffered severe, selective damage, mimicking the cellular breakdown that causes cerebral palsy in human infants during difficult childbirths. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for childbirth
Recent Examples of Synonyms for childbirth
  1. pregnancy
  2. childbearing
  3. delivery
  4. labor
  5. pains
  6. parturition
  7. contraction
Noun
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Health published an advisory Monday with guidance for measles in pregnancy and congenital measles.
    — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Grace Griffin qualified for Michigan's Rx Kids program, which provides eligible families in certain communities with $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for the baby's first six months or year of life.
    — Stephanie O'Neill, NPR, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of pregnancy
Noun
  • But Steinem lived to see the rise of a powerful backlash against her vision of feminism, with reproductive rights, motherhood, childbearing and gender roles once again at the center of the country's culture wars.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Not least because the hips—or rather, a wide pelvis—are considered a symbol of femininity, fertility, and childbearing capacity, both from a cultural-historical and an evolutionary-biology perspective.
    — Kelly Niesen, Glamour, 24 July 2026
Definition of childbearing
Noun
  • Meanwhile, Zelenskyy on Sunday said Russia had launched nearly 2,300 drones targeting Ukrainian cities over the past week, renewing his call on Western allies to speed up deliveries of interceptors.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Meanwhile, Zelensky on Sunday said Russia had launched nearly 2,300 drones targeting Ukrainian cities over the last week, renewing his call for Western allies to speed up deliveries of interceptors.
    — Derek Gatopoulos, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of delivery
Noun
  • Robots were already offered up as part of China’s domestic answer to aging, labor shortages, and future care needs.
    — Ruby Wang, semafor.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • At the sewing line, a conventional cotton T-shirt requires eight person-minutes of direct labor across its sewing operations, according to Silana co-founder Michael Hofmannrichter.
    — Jessica Binns, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of labor
Noun
  • The couple took pains to preserve historical details like the house's original wooden shutters.
    — Sophie Caldwell,Valentina Duarte, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Nearly every single recipe from the Fizz’s golden age takes pains to specify that it should be made very cold, served without ice, and consumed immediately after delivery, an instruction that may seem pedantic but is nonetheless ubiquitous.
    — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of pains
Noun
  • This pattern spans over a decade, indicating a remarkable fidelity to the Ashburton River and its surrounding creeks as critical parturition sites.
    — Melissa Cristina Marquez, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
  • His mother paced the spacious birthing stall, working off the pains of parturition, with half the placenta, neatly tied up by an attending stable hand, still hanging out of her.
    — William Finnegan, The New Yorker, 15 May 2021
Definition of parturition
Noun
  • Piezoelectric generators are particularly attractive for implants because the body is constantly moving, from the expansion and contraction of the lungs to the rhythmic beating of the heart.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The method, called contraction-aware reinforcement learning, is designed for robots with different forms of movement, including wheeled, flying, and six-legged platforms.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of contraction

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childbeds
childbirth
childbirths
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Cite this Entry

“Childbirth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/childbirth. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on childbirth

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about childbirth

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