Definition of childbearingnext
as in childbirth
the act or process of giving birth to children in olden days many women died in childbearing

Synonyms & Similar Words

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childbearing

2 of 2

adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of childbearing
Noun
But Steinem lived to see the rise of a powerful backlash against her vision of feminism, with reproductive rights, motherhood, childbearing and gender roles once again at the center of the country's culture wars. — ABC News, 3 Sep. 2026 Not least because the hips—or rather, a wide pelvis—are considered a symbol of femininity, fertility, and childbearing capacity, both from a cultural-historical and an evolutionary-biology perspective. — Kelly Niesen, Glamour, 24 July 2026 In fact, for millennia the role of mothers has included not only childbearing and education but also protection over the community as a whole, especially through advocacy for peace. — Marie-Claire Beaulieu, The Conversation, 5 May 2026 Poor women’s childbearing, particularly among Black and immigrant populations, was increasingly portrayed as a driver of intergenerational poverty and social disorder. — Sonya Borrero, STAT, 1 May 2026 Though some countries have tried to slow or reverse the trend through pro-natal policies—including cash incentives and tax breaks for childbearing, affordable childcare, and longer parental leaves—their long-term success has not been definitively proved so far. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Apr. 2026 Around the eleventh century, in Anglo‑Saxon England, instructions for an elaborate childbearing and mothering ritual were recorded by monks in the Lacnunga, a collection of medical texts and curative prayers. — Literary Hub, 18 Mar. 2026 Cleghorn notes that many Minoan women died between the ages of twenty and twenty-five, indicating that childbearing was most likely the cause of death. — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026 Women past childbearing years often see OB-GYNs less frequently. — Lauryn Higgins, Flow Space, 13 Jan. 2026
Adjective
Egg freezing, formally called oocyte preservation, is one of the clearest ways to extend a woman’s childbearing years. — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026 In the United Kingdom, there is a midwife assigned to every childbearing individual, regardless of the risk status of the pregnancy. — Deanna Taylor, USA Today, 7 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for childbearing
Noun
  • Without affordable medical care or social welfare, people die of tooth decay and childbirth and exposure to the cold come winter.
    — Kathryn Schulz, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The human neurons suffered severe, selective damage, mimicking the cellular breakdown that causes cerebral palsy in human infants during difficult childbirths.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • The gestational surrogate who carried the child of the 40-year-old singer and 42-year-old entrepreneur gave birth in Los Angeles this summer, but the news didn’t surface until Page Six broke the news this month.
    — Marzia Nicolini, Vanity Fair, 19 Sep. 2026
  • As pregnancies progress, gestational hypertension increases the risk of preeclampsia, which also leads to liver and kidney problems.
    — Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 2 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • According to the county, the condition accounts for 15% of recurrent pregnancy loss, but testing is not part of routine prenatal screening.
    — Julie Sharp, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Communities have seen moms start prenatal care earlier and stick with it.
    — Mona Hanna, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Yet one demographic may still have some reason to restrict their doom-scrolling and YouTube watching – pregnant mothers.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Sep. 2026
  • As fire ripped through the apartment building, the stepfather of five paused to talk the unidentified pregnant woman out of jumping from the second-story window to the dirt and concrete below.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Childbearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/childbearing. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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