Definition

Noun: 1. (Obstetrics) A woman who has given birth to a viable infant in each of four separate pregnancies.

Usage

This is a highly specific medical term used in obstetrics to describe a patient's obstetric history. It categorizes a woman based on the number of times she has carried a pregnancy to a viable stage (resulting in a live birth or the birth of an infant capable of surviving outside the womb). The term itself does not specify the number of children (e.g., a quadripara could have four or more children if any pregnancy resulted in multiples like twins).

Examples

• The patient's chart identified her as a quadripara, having successfully delivered four children from four pregnancies.
• The medical history noted the mother was a quadripara and a gravida five (meaning she had been pregnant five times in total).

Advanced Usage

• The term is part of a standardized system for recording obstetric history, often abbreviated as "P4" (Para 4) in medical notes.
• It is frequently used in conjunction with "gravida" (the total number of pregnancies). For example, "G5 P4" indicates five pregnancies with four resulting in viable births.

Variants and Related Words

• Para: A general suffix or prefix in obstetrics meaning "to bear (offspring)." It forms the basis for terms like nullipara (0), primipara (1), multipara (2 or more), secundipara (2), tertipara (3), and quadripara (4).
• Quadriparous (adjective): Relating to or characteristic of a quadripara. (e.g., a quadriparous uterus).

Synonyms

• Para IV (Medical abbreviation)
• P4 (Medical notation)

Notes

• This term is almost exclusively used in clinical, medical, or academic contexts. In everyday conversation, one would simply say "a mother of four" or "she has had four children."
• The definition specifies "viable infant," which distinguishes it from pregnancies that ended in miscarriage, abortion, or stillbirth. Those outcomes are counted in the "gravida" number but not in the "para" number.

Noun

1. (obstetrics) woman who has given birth to a viable infant in each of four pregnancies