How Can You Tell if Your Baby Is Head Down

Are you wondering how to tell if your babe is caput down every bit y'all approach your due date? There are 3 master methods used to determine if baby is in a head downwards position.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Table of contents

• How to Tell If Babe Is Head Downward #i:  Leopold's Maneuvers
  • Are Leopold Maneuvers Authentic?
• How to Tell If Infant Is Head Downwards #2:  Location of Heartbeat
  • Is Heartbeat Location Accurate?
  • Other Info Provided by the Heartbeat
• How to Tell If Baby Is Head Down #3:  Ultrasound

At some point in the last trimester, your baby is going to settle into his favorite position for birth.  Near babies will motility to a head down position by around 28–30 weeks of pregnancy, and 97% will be head down at birth.  This is ideal for moms planning a natural birth, since information technology's the position most likely to lead to a safe and uncomplicated labor and nascence (1).

However, some babies stay in a breech position or transverse prevarication past 34 weeks of pregnancy.  If attempts to turn the babe aren't successful, chances are your footling one will be born through a cesarean nativity.

With that in mind, it's understandable that many moms want to know how to tell if babe is head downwards as early equally possible.  Starting at around week 27 of your pregnancy, your doctor will bank check baby's position during each prenatal visit. Expect them to use one, or a combination, of the post-obit techniques:

How to Tell If Babe Is Caput Downwardly #one:  Leopold'due south Maneuvers

Leopold'due south maneuvers are a technique where your md or midwife will check your baby'southward position by pressing her hands into your belly and feeling the babe.  Yous can fifty-fifty try it yourself at home! Here are the four elementary steps:

Step 1: Brainstorm by pressing effectually the peak of your uterus — an area known as the fundus.

• If baby is caput down, you will experience a lesser.  Baby'south bottom feels soft with small-scale bones protruding out.
• If baby is in a breech position, you'll feel a head.  The head is difficult, firm, and volition motility contained of infant'south torso.

Step 2: Adjacent, feel for the location of your baby's back by placing your hands on the side of your belly.

• Babe's back will experience firm and smooth.
• Easily and feet are found on the other side, and will experience modest and knobby.

Footstep three: Now feel for the circular caput lying just to a higher place the pubic os.

• If the head is downward but isn't engaged in the pelvis however, y'all may be able to gently push it dorsum and forth.

Step 4: Finally, place both hands on your lower abdomen and move gently down the sides of the uterus towards your pelvis.

• Your doc will practice this to experience if infant'south head is well flexed and tucked into the chest.

Are Leopold Maneuvers Accurate?

After all four maneuvers are washed, your doctor will accept a adequately authentic picture of your baby's position.  With that said, it takes a lot of practice to go good at this technique.  Information technology's too hard to do on a mom who is overweight or has lots of amniotic fluid.  Then, unfortunately it's not 100% accurate.

How to Tell If Baby Is Caput Downward #2:  Location of Heartbeat

The location of your baby'due south heartbeat tin can as well exist very telling about whether your baby is head down.  If the head is down near the pelvis, it makes sense that baby's heartbeat would be found just above the pelvis, below your omphalus.

Is Heartbeat Location Accurate?

Nevertheless, the location of the heartbeat is besides not entirely reliable.  Electronic monitors like Dopplers may selection up the trounce, even if the monitor is far from the eye.  Additionally, since water carries sound, extra amniotic fluid can skew the results.

Other Info Provided by the Heartbeat

In the picture higher up, the dots show the full general location of baby's heartbeat in relation to the almost common caput downwardly positions. It can be a fun exercise to see what extra data the location the heart vanquish can tell yous about baby'south position in the pelvis.  Here's a cursory explanation of the abbreviations:

• Correct (R) or left (L) side of the pelvis
• Occiput (O) is a fancy discussion that describes the back of babe'south caput.  It ways that the head is the body part pointing downward into the pelvis.
• Inductive (A) or posterior (P) assistance you lot know whether the back of babe's caput is pointing towards the front (inductive) or dorsum (posterior) of your pelvis.

Are yous interested in learning more? Check out these posts on Spinning Babies to learn more than well-nigh each position: ROP, ROA, LOA, LOP

How to Tell If Baby Is Caput Down #iii:  Ultrasound

Are you wondering how to tell if baby is caput down with 100% accuracy? Ultrasounds are your respond!

Ultrasounds allow your caregiver to clearly view your baby and her position within the uterus.  However, they aren't routinely performed to tell the infant's position.  It would probable simply exist used only if both Leopold's maneuvers and the location of the heartbeat propose that baby may non exist head downwardly.

Kopa Birth's online birthing classes let you lot to prepare for a natural hospital birth from the condolement of your ain habitation, 24/7. Enroll today in our free online childbirth class  and start preparing for your natural birth!

References:

1. Ladewig, P., London, M., & Davidson, M.  (2006).  Contemporary Maternal-Newborn Nursing Intendance, 6th edition.  Pearson Education Inc.  Upper Saddle River, NJ.  p 392, 426-428.
2. The American Higher of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.  (2017).  Frequently Asked Questions Special Procedures: Ultrasound Exams.  Retrieved from https://www.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Ultrasound-Exams.

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