Gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system (uterus, vagina, and ovaries) and female genital tract and its disorders. In the United States, J. Marion Sims is considered the father of American gynaecology. Gynecology is concerned with the. In many areas, the specialties of gynaecology and obstetrics overlap. Gynecology has been considered to end at 28 weeks gestation, but practically there is no clear cut-off.

Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women". Kahun Gynaecological Papyrus is the oldest known medical text of any kind. Dated to about 1800 BCE, it deals with women's complaints—gynecological diseases, fertility, pregnancy, contraception, etc. The text is divided into thirty-four sections, each section dealing with a specific problem and containing diagnosis and treatment, no prognosis is suggested. Treatments are non surgical, comprising applying medicines to the affected body part or swallowing them. The womb is at times seen as the source of complaints manifesting themselves in other body parts.