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48 free Pregnancy trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
41 free Pregnancy trivia questions with answers. Pregnancy is nine months of strange and wonderful biology, and this quiz turns it into a game perfect for a baby shower. Expect questions on the three trimesters, why 'morning sickness' can strike at midnight, the hormone every pregnancy test hunts for, Braxton Hicks 'practice' contractions, quickening, cravings (97% of women get them, and chocolate wins), twins versus octuplets, couvade syndrome in dads-to-be, the ultra-rare superfetation, and the elephant that stays pregnant for 22 months. Read them aloud at a shower and let guests guess, or play solo. The tone is light but every answer is medically accurate, checked against reference sources, so nothing here is an old wives' tale. Each question carries the sentence that backs it up, drawn from Wikipedia's articles on pregnancy, morning sickness, multiple births and related topics.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01A full-term human pregnancy lasts roughly how long from the last period?
About 40 weeks
About 40 weeks from the last menstrual period, or just over nine months; counted from fertilisation it is roughly 38 weeks.
Q 02Pregnancy is divided into how many trimesters?
Three
Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters of roughly three months each, together spanning about 40 weeks.
Q 03At what point does a developing baby stop being called an 'embryo' and start being a 'fetus'?
At about ten weeks' gestational age
The embryo becomes a fetus at about ten weeks' gestational age, counted from the last period, which is roughly eight weeks after fertilisation.
Q 04Which nutrient is advised before and during early pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects?
Folic acid
Folic acid taken before conception and in early pregnancy lowers the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida; 400 micrograms a day is the usual advice.
Q 05Roughly what share of pregnant women experience morning sickness to some degree?
70 to 80%
Morning sickness affects about 70 to 80% of pregnant women, typically between the 4th and 16th weeks; the severe form is hyperemesis gravidarum.
Q 06Which hormone do pregnancy tests detect in blood and urine?
hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin)
Pregnancy tests detect hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone the placenta makes soon after implantation; rising hCG is also thought to contribute to morning sickness.
Q 07What are the harmless 'practice' tightenings before real labour called?
Braxton Hicks
Braxton Hicks contractions are irregular, usually painless tightenings of the uterus; they can begin as early as the sixth week but are mostly noticed in the second or third trimester.
Q 08In what year did an English physician first describe the 'practice' contractions that bear his name?
1872
They were first described in 1872 by an English physician who was studying the later stages of pregnancy in London.
Q 09What is the term for the first time a mother feels her baby move?
Quickening
Quickening is the first time the mother feels the baby move, typically in the second trimester; the early flutters are often mistaken for gas or hunger pangs.
Q 10What is 'sympathetic pregnancy', in which a partner shares the symptoms, formally called?
Couvade syndrome
Couvade syndrome, from the French 'couver' (to brood or hatch), is the name for a partner developing pregnancy-like symptoms; whether its cause is psychosomatic or hormonal is debated.
Q 11Twins from a single fertilised egg that splits are described as what?
Identical (monozygotic)
Identical (monozygotic) twins come from one fertilised egg that splits into two embryos, so they share virtually all their DNA.
Q 12How much genetic material do fraternal twins share, like any siblings?
About 50%
Fraternal twins come from two separate eggs, so like any full siblings they share about 50% of their genes; identical twins share nearly all their DNA.
Q 13What do you call three babies born at once?
Triplets
Three babies born at once are triplets; four are quadruplets and eight are octuplets.
Q 21What is the Latin-derived medical term for a pregnant woman?
A gravida
A gravida is a pregnant woman; the word comes from Latin 'gravidus', meaning heavy or laden, the same root as 'gravity'.
Q 22Which pregnancy complication combines high blood pressure with protein in the urine?
Pre-eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia is diagnosed when high blood pressure develops after 20 weeks together with protein in the urine or other organ signs; untreated it can progress to eclampsia, with seizures.
Q 23Which 0-to-10 score rates a newborn's condition at one and five minutes after birth?
Apgar score
The Apgar score, devised by anaesthetist Virginia Apgar in 1952, rates a newborn's colour, heart rate, reflexes, muscle tone and breathing from 0 to 10 at one and five minutes after birth.
Q 14The first surviving set of octuplets on record, born in 2009 in California, carry which surname?
Suleman
Nadya Suleman gave birth to the octuplets in January 2009 at a hospital in Bellflower, California; all eight survived, a first for octuplets.
Q 15The extremely rare event of conceiving a second baby while already pregnant is called what?
Superfetation
Superfetation means a second egg is fertilised and implants while a pregnancy is already under way; only a handful of human cases have ever been documented.
Q 16Which animal has the longest gestation of any mammal, at about 22 months?
The African elephant
The African elephant carries its calf for about 22 months, the longest gestation of any mammal; a human pregnancy is about nine months by comparison.
Q 17On average, how long after fertilisation does an embryo implant in the uterus?
8 to 9 days
The blastocyst implants in the uterine wall about 8 to 9 days after fertilisation, within a range of roughly six to twelve days; light implantation bleeding can be an early sign.
Q 18At 28 weeks, roughly what share of babies can survive outside the womb with good medical care?
More than 90%
With good neonatal care more than 90% of babies born at 28 weeks survive, though many face complications such as breathing problems and long hospital stays.
Q 19A baby born before which point is considered 'preterm'?
37 weeks
Birth before 37 weeks is preterm; 39 to 40 weeks is regarded as full term.
Q 20A pregnancy that reaches or passes 42 weeks is called what?
Post-term
A pregnancy that reaches 42 weeks is post-term (also post-dates); 41 weeks up to 41 weeks and 6 days is called late-term.
Q 24The bluish discolouration of the cervix and vulva in early pregnancy is named after whom?
Chadwick
Chadwick's sign is the bluish-purple tint of the cervix, vagina and vulva from increased blood flow, described by the American gynaecologist James Read Chadwick in the 1880s.
Q 25Which two of the baby's tiny middle-ear bones come from the first pharyngeal arch?
The malleus and incus
The malleus and incus form from Meckel's cartilage of the first pharyngeal arch; the stapes, the body's smallest bone, comes from the second arch.
Q 26A fetal heartbeat can usually first be seen on ultrasound at about which week?
6 weeks
A fetal heartbeat is usually first visible on a transvaginal ultrasound at about 6 weeks of gestation, when the embryo measures only a few millimetres.
Q 27What is the first, antibody-rich 'milk' a mother produces just after birth called?
Colostrum
Colostrum is the thick, yellowish first milk, rich in antibodies, produced in the first days after birth; 'beestings' is an old dialect name for it.
Q 28What is the pregnancy-linked craving for non-food substances such as chalk or soil called?
Pica
Pica is the craving for non-food substances such as clay, chalk, ice or soil; it is reported in some pregnancies and can be linked to iron deficiency.
Q 29Which term describes a fetus lying bottom-first rather than head-first near the end of pregnancy?
Breech
Breech means the baby is positioned buttocks or feet first; about 3 to 4% of babies are breech at term, and many are delivered by caesarean section.
Q 30In an ectopic pregnancy, where does the embryo most often implant?
A fallopian tube
About 95% of ectopic pregnancies implant in a fallopian tube, which is why they are often called tubal pregnancies; they cannot continue and can be life-threatening if the tube ruptures.