Understanding maternity abbreviations

Understanding maternity abbreviations

The strange list if abbreviations that appear on your maternity notes can be quite baffling, so here is a guide to what some of them mean:

Alb: Albumin in urine.
AFP: Alpha-fetoprotein.
BP: Blood Pressure.
Br: Breech (your baby is lying with its legs down).
Ceph: Cephalic (your baby is lying head down).
CS: Caesarean section.
EDD/EDC: Estimated date of delivery/confinement.
Eng/E: Engaged (your baby’s head is sitting in the pelvis).
Fe: Iron prescribed.
FH: Fetal heart.
FHH/NH: Fetal heart heard or not heard.
FMF: Fetal movements felt.
Hb: Haemoglobin levels to check for anaemia.
Height of fundus: The height of the top of the uterus.
H/T: Hypertension/high blood pressure.
Long L: Longitudinal lie, the baby lies parallel to your spine in the uterus.
LMP: Last menstrual period.
MSU: Midstream urine sample.
Multigravida: You have had more than one pregnancy.
NAD: No abnormality detected.
NE: Not engaged.
Oed: Oedema.
PET: pre-eclamptic toxaemia.
Primigravida: This is your first pregnancy.
Relation of PP to brim: This refers to the brim of your pelvis. The PP is the presenting part, which will be born first.
RSA: Right sacrum anterior. This is the most common breech presentation.
TCA: To come again.
VE: Vaginal examination.

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Last Modified: 13/06/2008
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