postnatal

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pós

Proto-Indo-European *-ti

Proto-Indo-European *pósti

Proto-Italic *posti

Old Latin poste

Latin post

English post-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós

Proto-Italic *gnātos

Latin gnātus

Latin nātus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin nātālisbor.

Middle English natal

English natal

English postnatal

From post- +‎ natal. First use appears c. 1831.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /poʊstˈneɪtəl/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /pəʊstˈneɪtəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

postnatal (not comparable)

1. After being born, of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth (of a baby).

   postnatal development

   postnatal treatment

2. (proscribed) Of a mother, after giving birth.

Usage notes

• In careful usage postnatal refers to the baby, after being born, while the mother, after giving birth, is referred to as postpartum. In casual usage postnatal may be used for both.

Synonyms

• (give birth): postpartum

Antonyms

• prenatal
• (antonym(s) of “be born”): postpartum

Derived terms

• postnatal depression
• postnatally

Translations

of or pertaining to the period immediately after birth

• Bulgarian: следродов (sledrodov)
• Catalan: postpart
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 產後 / 产后 (caan² hau⁶)

  Hokkien: 產後 / 产后 (sán-āu)

  Mandarin: 產後 / 产后 (zh) (chǎnhòu)

• Czech: poporodní (cs), postnatální (cs)
• Estonian: sünnijärgne
• French: postnatal (fr) m, post-natal (fr) m
• German: postnatal (de), postpartal (de)
• Italian: postnatale
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: paşzayînê f

• Polish: poporodowy (pl), połogowy (pl), postnatalny
• Portuguese: pós-natal
• Russian: послеродово́й (ru) (poslerodovój)
• Spanish: postnatal

French

Adjective

postnatal (feminine postnatale, masculine plural postnataux, feminine plural postnatales)

1. postnatal

Further reading

• “postnatal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːl

Adjective

postnatal (no predicative form, strong nominative masculine singular postnataler, not comparable)

1. postnatal

   Antonym: pränatal

Declension

Positive forms of postnatal (uncomparable, no predicate)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		—	—	—	—
strong declension (without article)	nominative	postnataler	postnatale	postnatales	postnatale
	genitive	postnatalen	postnataler	postnatalen	postnataler
	dative	postnatalem	postnataler	postnatalem	postnatalen
	accusative	postnatalen	postnatale	postnatales	postnatale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der postnatale	die postnatale	das postnatale	die postnatalen
	genitive	des postnatalen	der postnatalen	des postnatalen	der postnatalen
	dative	dem postnatalen	der postnatalen	dem postnatalen	den postnatalen
	accusative	den postnatalen	die postnatale	das postnatale	die postnatalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein postnataler	eine postnatale	ein postnatales	(keine) postnatalen
	genitive	eines postnatalen	einer postnatalen	eines postnatalen	(keiner) postnatalen
	dative	einem postnatalen	einer postnatalen	einem postnatalen	(keinen) postnatalen
	accusative	einen postnatalen	eine postnatale	ein postnatales	(keine) postnatalen

Related terms

• postpartal

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French postnatal.

Adjective

postnatal m or n (feminine singular postnatală, masculine plural postnatali, feminine/neuter plural postnatale)

1. postnatal

Declension

Declension of postnatal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	postnatal		postnatală	postnatali	postnatale
	definite	postnatalul		postnatala	postnatalii	postnatalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	postnatal		postnatale	postnatali	postnatale
	definite	postnatalului		postnatalei	postnatalilor	postnatalelor

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /posdnaˈtal/ [pozð̞.naˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: post‧na‧tal

Adjective

postnatal m or f (masculine and feminine plural postnatales)

1. postnatal

Related terms

• antenatal
• nacer (see for more related terms)
• natal
• nato (see for more related terms)
• neonatal
• perinatal
• prenatal

Further reading

• “postnatal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025