Parity represents what?

• A. The number of pregnancies
• B. The number of births
• C. The number of pregnancies that progressed to twenty weeks or more or weighed five hundred grams or more
• D. The number of abortions

Answer: (C)

Parity is the number of pregnancies that have reached viability, meaning the pregnancy progressed to at least twenty weeks gestation (or a fetal weight of about 500 grams) regardless of the final outcome. That’s why this option is correct: it reflects pregnancies that advanced beyond the early, nonviable period.

Think of gravidity as all pregnancies a person has had, including those ending early, while parity specifically counts pregnancies that reached viability. Births (live or stillborn) and abortions before viability don’t alone define parity; abortions before viability don’t increase parity, whereas a pregnancy that reaches viability does, even if the baby isn’t born alive later. For example, a person with two pregnancies that progressed past 20 weeks (even if some ended in stillbirth) would have parity two.