Ever joined a pregnancy group or discussion thread and felt like everyone was speaking a foreign language?!
To speed things up a lot of acronyms get thrown around in these groups.
Use this guide to help you decode these pregnancy acronyms and abbreviations so you can join in on the conversation. I’ve included not just acronyms but other common terms as well that the layman may not be familiar with.
BFP – Big fat positive. A positive pregnancy test result
BFN – Big fat negative. A negative pregnancy test result
BLW – Baby led weaning. A way to introduce solids to your baby.
BM – This one is tricky. It can mean bowel movement or breastmilk depending on the context. You’d be surprised how quickly you can start discussing BMs, yours and your child’s, with your new online friends!
CIO – Cry it out, a method of sleep training babies
CM – Cervical Mucus
Co-sleeping or bed sharing – Sleeping with your baby in the same bed.
CS or C/S – C-section
DD – Darling daughter
DH – Darling husband
DS – Darling son
DTD – Do the deed, as in have sex
EBF– Exclusively breastfed. A baby who receives breastmilk only. Sometimes women mean the baby breastfeeds only, others mean baby receives breastmilk only but may sometimes get a bottle of breastmilk as well.
EDD – Estimated due date
EP – Exclusively pumping breastmilk for your baby.
FF – Formula fed. Babies who receive only formula
FTM – First-time mom
HCG – A hormone produced during pregnancy. Some women will receive blood tests early on to measure their levels of HCG which will double about every 72 hours through the first couple months of pregnancy.
HG – Hyperemesis gravidarum, a form of extreme morning sickness/nausea experienced by some women during pregnancy
IUI – Intra Uterine Insemination
L&D – Labor & delivery
NBR – Not baby related. Used when someone wants to ask the group a question that isn’t directly related to your babies
PNP – Pack n Play, also referred to as a play yard. A space for baby to sleep or play.
PPA – Post-Partum anxiety
PPD – Post-Partum depression
RNP – Rock n Play, a type of baby swing
Room sharing – Having your baby in the same room but in their own sleep space such as a bassinet, crib, or pack and play.
SAHM – Stay at home mom
STM – Second-time mom
TTC – Trying to conceive
TMI – Too much information
Trigger warning – Ok, so this one isn’t an acronym, but it’s still important to know. Anything related to sensitive topics such as suicide, child death, miscarriage, etc should be posted with trigger warning then a series of dots underneath to create space before posting your comment or question. This makes it so someone has to generally click read more to see it. Traumatic issues like this can be triggering for some women.
VBAC – Vaginal birth after C-section. This is actually a big deal and you have to meet certain criteria for a doctor to agree to let you try this.
Want to save this list for later? Grab the Printable Pregnancy Acronym Guide.
I’m sure I forgot several on this list. If you think of one that’s not here, or have a question about one, please leave it below so I can update the list!
Oh my goodness this is so helpful. I was reading so many comments from people and it took time to understand what they were saying.
I’m the worst at using acronyms! This is great!