Category: F

The certificate required when a baby is born dead: a stillbirth. Most states in the United States regard stillbirths of less than 20 weeks of pregnancy as abortions and may or may not require registration of a birth.  

Hemoglobin within the fetal circulation that is carrying carbon monoxide.  

Uncoordinated, hurried, and uncertain walk in paralysis agitans. A gait in which short, shuffling steps are initially taken, with the feet barely clearing the floor. After several steps the walking pace becomes quicker and quicker. The upper body is flexed forward, and the head is bent toward the floor. The arms, elbows, hips, and knees…

Fertilized egg.  

The number of births per year per 1000 women aged 15-44 years, total fertility rate. The number of live births occurring in a year per 1000 women of child-bearing age (usually 15 to 44 years of age). A less reliable measure of fertility can be obtained from the live birth rate (the number of live…

Contraception methods that attempt to pinpoint the time of ovulation: rhythm method; basal body temperature method; mucous method. The identification of the days during a woman’s menstrual cycle when her potential for conception is highest.  

The period each month during which a woman’s ovum has been released and can most readily be fertilized by a sperm. That time in the menstrual cycle in which fertilization is most likely to occur. Attempts to determine a woman’s fertile period are based on knowledge of when ovulation (the release of an ovum, or…

A potent synthetic analgesic. A narcotic pain reliever. Fentanyl (Duragesic, Sublimaze) is used as a short-acting pain reliever and as an adjunct to general anesthesia for surgical procedures. It works by altering the person’s perception of painful stimuli, relieving pain that is moderate to severe. Like morphine, fentanyl is a central nervous system and respiratory…

An appetite suppressant. Anorexia-inducing drug that was withdrawn from the market in 1997 because of heart valve problems found in association with it. Fenfluramine was often used in combination with the drug phentermine, the so-called “fen-phen” combination. Phentermine was not found to be unsafe when used alone as directed. A drug, similar to amphetamine, that…

An opening on the inner wall of the middle ear leading to the cochlea.