In human reproduction, a live birth occurs when a fetus, whatever its gestational age, exits the maternal body and subsequently shows any sign of life, such as voluntary movement, heartbeat, or pulsation of the umbilical cord, for however brief a time and regardless of whether the umbilical cord or placenta are intact.
This definition of the term "live birth" was created by the World Health Organization in 1950 and is chiefly used for public health and statistical purposes. Whether the birth is vaginal or by Caesarean section, and whether the neonate is ultimately viable, is not relevant to this statistical definition. However, the term "live birth" was in common use long before 1950.
In the United States, the term "born alive" is defined by federal statute.
Famous quotes containing the words live and/or birth:
“To live a better life,—this surely can be done.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is a certain class of people who prefer to say that their fathers came down in the world through their own follies than to boast that they rose in the world through their own industry and talents. It is the same shabby-genteel sentiment, the same vanity of birth which makes men prefer to believe that they are degenerated angels rather than elevated apes.”
—W. Winwood Reade (1838–1875)