Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (712 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The number of offspring a female has borne. It is contrasted with gravidity, which refers to the number of pregnancies, regardless of outcome.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Multiparity; Nulliparity; Parity Progression Ratio; Parity Progression Ratios; Ratio, Parity Progression; Ratios, Parity Progression; Primiparity.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Reproductive Physiological Phenomena; Pregnancy; Reproductive History
- See also
- Gravidity
Related concepts
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 28,049 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Parity” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 3,082 of them (11.0%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 12,703 records.
Reviews account for 982 records (3.5%) and meta-analyses for 193. Randomized controlled trials number 1,045 (3.7%) as a share of all records on the topic.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 12,703 |
| 2000-2009 | 5,669 |
| 2010-2019 | 6,595 |
| 2020 onward | 3,082 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 982 | 3.5% |
| Meta-analyses | 193 | 0.7% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 1,045 | 3.7% |
Method: PubMed query "Parity"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in anatomy and physiology
Anatomy describes how body structures are built and physiology describes how they normally work, so most findings here are descriptive or mechanistic rather than evidence about treatment. Much of what is known comes from dissection, imaging, tissue studies and experiments in animals, and measurements in healthy volunteers can differ from those in people with disease or at different ages. Normal ranges vary between individuals and populations. Check whether a result was measured in people or in another species, the age and health of the participants, and the method used.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The association between parity and spontaneous preterm birth: a population based study | 2020 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 92 | cc by PMID 32316915 · DOI · PMC7175552 |
| Factors associated with the timing of antenatal clinic attendance among first-time mothers in rural southern Ghana | 2020 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 88 | cc by PMID 31959137 · DOI · PMC6972022 |
| The maternal brain: Region-specific patterns of brain aging are traceable decades after childbirth | 2020 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 81 | cc by PMID 32767637 · DOI · PMC7555081 |
| The Lateral Habenula Is Necessary for Maternal Behavior in the Naturally Parturient Primiparous Mouse Dam | 2025 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 5 | cc by PMID 39689968 · DOI · PMC11734883 |
The association between parity and spontaneous preterm birth: a population based study [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- BackgroundPreterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity worldwide.
- Closing excerpt
- Furthermore, we observed an increased risk for spontaneous preterm birth in women in their fifth pregnancy, with highest risk for preterm birth at early gestational age.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (134 words)
BackgroundPreterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity worldwide. Many factors have been associated with preterm birth, including parity. The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between parity and risk of spontaneous preterm birth.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study including live singleton births (≥22 weeks) of women with a first, second, third, fourth or fifth pregnancy in The Netherlands from 2010 through 2014. Our primary outcome was risk of spontaneous preterm birth ResultsWe studied 802,119 pregnancies, including 30,237 pregnancies that ended spontaneously ConclusionOur data show an independent association between nulliparity and spontaneous preterm birth < 37, < 32 and < 28 weeks. Furthermore, we observed an increased risk for spontaneous preterm birth in women in their fifth pregnancy, with highest risk for preterm birth at early gestational age.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 32316915 · DOI · PMC7175552
Factors associated with the timing of antenatal clinic attendance among first-time mothers in rural southern Ghana [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- BackgroundPregnancy is an important period to promote healthy behaviors, prevent and identify diseases early and treat them to maximize the health and development of both the woman and her unborn child.
- Closing excerpt
- Maternal age is significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care visit among first-time mothers; older women were more likely to initiate antenatal care visit in the first trimester of gestation compared to the younger women.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (242 words)
BackgroundPregnancy is an important period to promote healthy behaviors, prevent and identify diseases early and treat them to maximize the health and development of both the woman and her unborn child. A new World Health Organization antenatal care model recommends the initiation of antenatal care visit within the first trimester of gestation. This study sought to examine the timing of initiation of antenatal care among first-time mothers and associated factors in rural Southern Ghana.MethodsInformation on gestational age, timing of antenatal care, demographic and socioeconomic status of 1076 first-time mothers who gave birth in 2011 to 2013 in the Dodowa Health and Demographic Surveillance System were included in the study. The time of initiation of antenatal clinic attendance was calculated. The associations between dependent and independent variables were explored using logistic regression at 95% confidence interval in STATA version 14.2.ResultsThe mean gestational age at which the first-time mothers initiated antenatal care attendance was 3 month. Maternal age, level of education and household socioeconomic status were statistically significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care attendance.ConclusionAlthough more than half of the study participants initiated ANC visit in the first trimester of pregnancy, a high proportion also started ANC attendance after the World Health Organization recommended period. Maternal age is significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care visit among first-time mothers; older women were more likely to initiate antenatal care visit in the first trimester of gestation compared to the younger women.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 31959137 · DOI · PMC6972022
The maternal brain: Region-specific patterns of brain aging are traceable decades after childbirth [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Pregnancy involves maternal brain adaptations, but little is known about how parity influences women's brain aging trajectories later in life.
- Closing excerpt
- While only prospective longitudinal studies would be conclusive, our findings indicate that subcortical brain modulations during pregnancy and postpartum may be traceable decades after childbirth.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (130 words)
Pregnancy involves maternal brain adaptations, but little is known about how parity influences women's brain aging trajectories later in life. In this study, we replicated previous findings showing less apparent brain aging in women with a history of childbirths, and identified regional brain aging patterns linked to parity in 19,787 middle- and older-aged women. Using novel applications of brain-age prediction methods, we found that a higher number of previous childbirths were linked to less apparent brain aging in striatal and limbic regions. The strongest effect was found in the accumbens-a key region in the mesolimbic reward system, which plays an important role in maternal behavior. While only prospective longitudinal studies would be conclusive, our findings indicate that subcortical brain modulations during pregnancy and postpartum may be traceable decades after childbirth.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 32767637 · DOI · PMC7555081
The Lateral Habenula Is Necessary for Maternal Behavior in the Naturally Parturient Primiparous Mouse Dam [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Mammalian parenting is an unusually demanding commitment.
- Closing excerpt
- Together, these findings serve to establish the LHb as required for maternal behavior in the mouse dam, thereby complementing previous findings implicating the LHb in parental behavior using pup-sensitized virgin female mice.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (206 words)
Mammalian parenting is an unusually demanding commitment. How has the reward system been co-opted to ensure parental care? Previous work has implicated the lateral habenula (LHb), an epithalamic nucleus, as a potential intersection of parenting behavior and reward. Here, we examine the role of the LHb in the maternal behavior of naturally parturient primiparous mouse dams. We show that kainic acid lesions of the LHb induced a severe maternal neglect phenotype in dams toward their biological pups. Next, we demonstrate that chronic chemogenetic inactivation of the LHb using inhibitory DREADDs impaired acquisition and performance of various maternal behaviors, such as pup retrieval and nesting. We present a random intercept model suggesting LHb inactivation prevents the acquisition of pup retrieval, a novel maternal behavior in primiparous mouse dams, and decreases nest building performance, an already-established behavior, in primiparous mouse dams. Lastly, we examine the spatial histology of kainic acid-treated dams with a random intercept model, which suggests the role of LHb in maternal behavior may be preferentially localized at the posterior aspect of this structure. Together, these findings serve to establish the LHb as required for maternal behavior in the mouse dam, thereby complementing previous findings implicating the LHb in parental behavior using pup-sensitized virgin female mice.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 39689968 · DOI · PMC11734883
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Chapter 3: Cofactors in human papillomavirus carcinogenesis--role of parity, oral contraceptives, and tobacco smoking [5]
- Research article The protective role of pregnancy in breast cancer [6]
- Research article Multiparous species present problems (and possibilities) to developmentalists [7]
- Research article Parity and low birth weight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analyses [8]
- Research article The associations of parity and maternal age with small-for-gestational-age, preterm, and neonatal and infant mortality: a meta-analysis [9]
- Research article Advanced maternal age and the risk of cesarean birth: a systematic review [10]
References
- Koullali B, van Zijl MD, Kazemier BM, Oudijk MA, Mol BWJ, Pajkrt E, et al.. The association between parity and spontaneous preterm birth: a population based study. . 2020. PMID 32316915 · DOI · PMC7175552
- Manyeh AK, Amu A, Williams J, Gyapong M. Factors associated with the timing of antenatal clinic attendance among first-time mothers in rural southern Ghana. . 2020. PMID 31959137 · DOI · PMC6972022
- de Lange AG, Barth C, Kaufmann T, Anatürk M, Suri S, Ebmeier KP, et al.. The maternal brain: Region-specific patterns of brain aging are traceable decades after childbirth. . 2020. PMID 32767637 · DOI · PMC7555081
- Benedict J, Cudmore RH, Oden D, Spruell A, Linden DJ. The Lateral Habenula Is Necessary for Maternal Behavior in the Naturally Parturient Primiparous Mouse Dam. . 2025. PMID 39689968 · DOI · PMC11734883
- Castellsagué X, Muñoz N. Chapter 3: Cofactors in human papillomavirus carcinogenesis--role of parity, oral contraceptives, and tobacco smoking. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2003. PMID 12807941 · DOI
- Russo J, Moral R, Balogh GA, Mailo D, Russo IH. The protective role of pregnancy in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2005. PMID 15987443 · DOI · PMC1143568
- Zorrilla EP. Multiparous species present problems (and possibilities) to developmentalists. Dev Psychobiol. 1997. PMID 9068968 · DOI
- Shah PS, Knowledge Synthesis Group on Determinants of LBW/PT births. Parity and low birth weight and preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analyses. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2010. PMID 20583931 · DOI
- Kozuki N, Lee AC, Silveira MF, Sania A, Vogel JP, Adair L, et al.. The associations of parity and maternal age with small-for-gestational-age, preterm, and neonatal and infant mortality: a meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2013. PMID 24564800 · DOI · PMC3847520
- Bayrampour H, Heaman M. Advanced maternal age and the risk of cesarean birth: a systematic review. Birth. 2010. PMID 20887538 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-10-31; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-10-31.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.