Question

When assessing a pregnant female, the nurse documents gravida 3, para 2 regarding obstetrical history in the health record. which situation correctly corresponds to the obstetrical history of the woman?

Answer 1

Gravida indicates the number of times that a woman has been pregnant including present pregnancies. If a pregnancy if of several babies (like twins) it still counts only as one pregnancy. All pregnancies count regardless of the ultimate outcome, whether the child was born or not. Gravida 3 would indicate that the woman being assessed had been pregnant two times and the present pregnancy was the third time.
Para (parity) indicates the number of pregnancies of a woman that reached the birth or a stillbirth time. The number of babies involved on one pregnancy counts only as one parity if it comes to birth or a stillbirth time - twins would count as one parity. Para 2 would then indicate that the woman had reached the viable gestational age in her previous two pregnancies.