In her mama's belly

All positions of the baby

In her mama’s belly, Baby can position herself in many ways. His presentation can be said of the top, back, face, front, seat… Focus on these different positions.

The presentation of the summit
This position, head down inflected, is the most common (95 %) and most positive for birth. Indeed, in order to best engage in the maternal basin that is not very large (12 cm in diameter), the baby’s head must be as small as possible and thus weaken to the maximum. In this position, the baby’s chin is against his chest, and the diameter reduced to 9,5 cm. It’s easier then to go down and turn. The removal is carried out under the hair symphysis. Your baby comes out looking at the ground!

The later presentation
In this variation of the summit presentation, the baby has the top of his skull (the) in front of the back part of the maternal pelvis. His head is less well-inflected and thus present at the entrance of the basin bigger diameter. The rotation of the head, which has to come and stand under the pubis for exit, is harder and sometimes it can’t be done in a good way. This leads to longer work and pain located in the lower back: the famous “birth by the kidneys”!

The presentation of the face
Work in this position is a bit more delicate and longer but normally happens in more than 70 % of cases. Indeed, instead of being well-inflected, the baby’s head is completely turned backwards, with the occiput being in contact with the back. The obligatory condition to avoid c-section: that the chin turns forward and hold under the symphysis, otherwise the head diameter goes beyond that of the maternal pelvis and it is likely to rise. As the baby’s face comes first during the descent into the maternal pelvis, there is often swelling of lips and cheeks after birth. Don’t worry, it disappears in a few days.

The presentation of the front
This is the position, head down, the worst. The fetal head is in the middle position, neither inflected nor défléchie and has diameters that are inconsistent with the maternal pelvis. Only solution: c-section, without waiting.

The presentation of the seat
This low-bottom presentation is found at the end of pregnancy in 3 to 4 % of the fetus. Your baby can be sitting in a tailor, so we talk about a full seat or more often in a décomplété seat with legs spread in front of the trunk, feet at the height of the head. A birth by natural means will only be accepted at the price of a number of precautions that need to be surround. The main: the diameter of the fetal head should be consistent with those in the maternal pelvis. Therefore, your doctor will prescribe an ultrasound to measure the baby’s head diameter and a radiopelvimétrie to make sure your pelvis is large enough. The danger indeed comes from the risk of holding the head after leaving the baby’s body. So many doctors prefer to take your baby out by c-section. When baby is in a décomplété seat, the risk of congenital hip dislocation is more common. Therefore, a careful review will be carried out by the pediatrician at motherhood and a radiological and radiological check a few months later.

The transverse or shoulder presentation

This presentation is fortunately very rare at the time of work. The baby is in a horizontal position and a natural way of birth is impossible. So the only option is a quick c-section. At the end of pregnancy, an external manoeuvre version may be attempted.