産 - Well-Formed CREATIONS & PRODUCTS

Readings & Meanings:

うぶ

サン

う（む）

childbearing, product, fortune, to give birth, to produce

Common Usage:

産業

特産物

産地

産声

産む

産湯

Examples:

豊田市では自動車産業が盛んだ。

スイカは熊本の特産物だ。(熊本はスイカの産地だ。）

元気な産声を上げて赤ちゃんが産(生）まれた。

赤ちゃんを産湯に入れる。

Translations:

In Toyota, Aichi, there are many people in the automobile industry.

Watermelon is one of Kumamoto's specialties. (Kumamoto is a watermelon-producing area.)

With a strong first cry, the baby was born.

We're going to give the baby his first bath.

Radical:

Some of you may have noticed that 産む sounds and is used exactly like 生む. (What tipped you off, the 生 in the example?)

Look closer; please really look at 産.

You see it now, don't you? The 生 hiding in 産!

The frame around 生 is an abbreviation of 彦, which means "well-formed." Thus, 産's meaning has extended to formed things, products.

As for whether or not to use 生む or 産む when referring to birth, I think it doesn't matter.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/snetwork/SAN.html#SAN07
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/e.htm