Welcome to the first day of my 30 words in 30 days project.
[Edit note 3/27/12: I started this series last summer and then immediately jumped into a midwifery apprenticeship and walked away from the project to prioritize catching babies... so now I'm working to finish the series and I guess I'll still call it the 30 words in 30 days project, but just don't think of those 30 days as being consecutive, please.)
El Parto | The Birth
El parto means ‘the birth’ and is also used to talk about labor. It comes from the verb partir, which means both to split or divide (to partition: think about the part in your hair) or to leave (to part: as in parting is such sweet sorrow) depending on context.
Related vocabulary:
- el parto natural or el parto naturalizado | vaginal (natural) birth
- dar a luz | to give birth (literally to give to the light)
- el trabajo de parto | labor (literally means the work of birth)
- el nacimiento | the birth (from the verb nacer = to be born)
- la provocación de parto | labor induction
- la fecha probable de parto (FPP) | estimated due date (EDD)
El nacimiento and el parto both mean the birth, but they are distinct. El parto is the Mom’s birth experience. El nacimiento is the baby’s; it comes from the verb nacer, to be born. So think about context when translating and you have to choose the proper word.
Dar a luz is an expression that literally means, ‘to give to the light’. It’s a beautiful expression. It is used to express home birth: dar a luz en casa.
Examples:
¿Cuál hospital escogiste para el parto?
(Which hospital did you chose for the birth?)
La mujer comenzó el trabajo de parto y tuvo que ir al hospital.
(The woman went into labor and had to go to the hospital)
¿Cuándo es tu fecha probable de parto?
(When is your due date?)
El (trabajo de) parto duró 15 horas.
Labor lasted 15 hours.
¿Adónde piensas dar a luz?
Where do you plan to give birth?
Read More:
La placenta | The placenta
Las nalgas literally means buttocks, so really the Spanish expression for breech birth is a description of the classic frank presentation with the baby’s bottom being the presenting part.
