: being or providing care during and immediately before and after childbirth
maternity care
a maternity unit
2
: designed for wear during pregnancy
a maternity dress
3
: effective for the period close to and including childbirth
maternity leave
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Maternity and Parts of Speech
Maternity is used as both a noun and an adjective. Maternity benefits are benefits specially provided by employers for women having babies, and usually include maternity leave, time off work. With maternity come maternal feelings, which are shown by all species of warm-blooded animals as well as a few reptiles such as crocodiles and alligators.
Noun she had such maternity at such a young age that all her classmates went to her for comfort
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
As the boss at Enigma, Jackson pushed any semblance of maternity leave to the side during her first pregnancy, tattooing through the first eight months before finally stepping down to give birth. Josh Chesler, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2022 Art seeks to explore problems, and the art here doesn’t flinch at the trials of maternity. Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, 6 July 2022 Scroll on for more of Rihanna's experimental high-fashion maternity looks and watch this space for all her latest pregnancy outfits. Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 14 Feb. 2022 Five-month-old Maeve slept soundly in her car seat next to mom Caitlin O’Gara who was enjoying her last week of maternity leave with friend Judy Moffatt. Chelsey Lewis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2021 But in practice, workers taking paternity leave is still rare due to professional stigma while mothers taking maternity leave are often penalized by their employers for doing so. Yvonne Lau, Fortune, 24 Aug. 2022 At Kabul’s busiest maternity hospital, incubators and cribs hold up to three newborns at a time due to a shortage of space. Jessica Donati, WSJ, 18 July 2022 The hotel is housed in both a renovated defunct maternity hospital -- where more than 500,000 babies were born -- and an elegant new tower by the architect Jean Nouvel. Nick Remsen, CNN, 12 July 2022 Back in the maternity hospital, new mothers give birth daily, and amid all of the chaos find hope. Megan Specia, BostonGlobe.com, 9 July 2022
Adjective
Rather, the pregnant singer pulled another sensational non-maternity look out of the bag for a Fenty Beauty launch in LA. Kerry Mcdermott, Vogue, 13 Mar. 2022 There are plenty of non-maternity options in flowy silhouettes that work just as well.Vogue, 1 Oct. 2021 There are plenty of non-maternity options in flowy silhouettes that work just as well.Vogue, 1 Oct. 2021 Some of the young and their mothers continue to follow the trail of blooms to a post-maternity cave in the southwestern corner of New Mexico. Janet Marinelli, Wired, 19 Feb. 2022 There are plenty of non-maternity options in flowy silhouettes that work just as well.Vogue, 1 Oct. 2021 There are plenty of non-maternity options in flowy silhouettes that work just as well.Vogue, 1 Oct. 2021 There are plenty of non-maternity options in flowy silhouettes that work just as well.Vogue, 1 Oct. 2021 Who knows how many people—if any—had broken from formality and spoken frankly to her on that or any other night to ask how a new mom post-maternity leave (one with both unique privileges and challenges) was really doing? Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 6 Oct. 2021 See More