maternity

From Wiktionary

Pronunciation[change]

Noun[change]

Singular
maternity

Plural
maternities

  1. (uncountable) Maternity is a state of a woman before giving birth to a child (children).
  2. (uncountable) Maternity is a relation between a mother and her child.
  3. (countable) A maternity ward is a place in a hospital where children are born.