Baby not engaged at 41 weeks. What should I do?

[norajo]

My baby is not engaged at 41 weeks although she has been head down for the last few weeks. I'm not sure if I should proceed with an induction or go straight to c-section. Can anybody give their honest and unbiased opinion? Thank you!!!

By way of information, this is my first baby!

What has your midwife said?

why would you be thinking of a c-section?

FWIW, my ds (now 2.5years)(VBAC) never engaged until I did the first push which bought him into the birth canal, two pushes later he was out..

IMO, I would avoid a c-section unless it is necessary

sometimes babies do not engage until you go into labour, even first babies, if you are induced, the early prostin contractions will work to help move the babies head down.

Yes I'm also a little confused as to why the c-section would be an option unless your midwife has advised it and I don't know enough about these things to know why she might.

I'd personally alwasys avoid a c-section if I could.

My midwife said she would like to schedule me for an induction next week but she seemed to imply that a non-engaged baby is harder to induce and could result in an emergency ceasarian after a long labour. That for me is the scariest outcome of all. When I mentioned this she said that my other alternative would be an elective ceasarian. To be clear, she was not advocating it, just telling me it was an option and that got me thinking.

I appreciate all your input and will certainly take it into consideration. If anybody else has some personal experiences from their first baby, I would love to know!!!

Thanks,
Nora

Norajo... I was given a sweep to bring on labour and asI said earlier I wasnt engaged at the time, it was also my first labour..... Just something for you to think about..

Good luck

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go for an induction first if possible...you should have every chance for a vaginal delivery..especially if this is your first baby....as a c,s could limit your options for vaginal delivery/ induction in a previus pregnancy

unless there is real cause for the midwife to think your baby's head is too big for your pelvis, which is preventing engagement....but that is not that common.....

is baby even partially engaged ? if so, i would not go for an elective c.s personally ....

The baby's head is 4/5ths palpabe which I think means not engaged at all. A big head has not been mentioned during any of my examinations.

your baby's head is therefore 1/5 engaged, and could well be further engaged before very long...i would go for a sweep, if that doesn;t start you off, then induction, with elective c.s as a last resort, IMO

Perhaps but she was 3/5 palpable last week (week 40) so should I be worried that she is going in the wrong direction?

IMO, no...babies can bob around in and out of the pelvis for a wee while, but if the head starts to enagage, it is a good sign...also, it can differ depending on who is palpating you from week to week....

nora, neither of my ds' heads engaged. They said the same to me with ds1 as they have to you. If he hadn't arrived by a certain date, they would induce me to see if his head would engage that way, if not, then a CS would be my only option. He arrived 2 days before i was due to go in for the induction and was 8hrs from 1st twinge. Good luck.