Unborn describes a baby developing inside its mother's body before birth. When someone says “my unborn child,” they're talking about the baby growing in the womb who hasn't been born yet. Doctors use the term to discuss a baby's health and development during pregnancy.

The word appears in many contexts. Parents might play music for their unborn baby, hoping the child can hear it in the womb. A pregnant woman visits her doctor for checkups to make sure her unborn child is healthy and growing properly. Scientists study how what a mother eats or her environment might affect her unborn baby's development.

You'll sometimes see unborn used more broadly to mean something that hasn't happened or come into existence yet, like “unborn generations” referring to people who will live in the future. Writers might describe “unborn dreams” or “unborn possibilities” to talk about things that could happen but haven't happened yet.