36 wks and head not engaging, they want to admit me!!!

[dizzy36]

can't remember the word they used but baby is sort of diagnol with head down, back to my back. I wouldn't consider that breech but consultant today talking about admitting me if still not engaged next monday. I would have to stay in until week 39 when would do a c-section.

It all sounds a bit extreme, or maybe they are being overcautious. Consultant also said if anything happens between now and monday I should ring 999 and come in immediately.....again, sounds extreme.

Apparently because the babies head isn't where it is supposed to be (above the cervix) there is a possibility of the cord 'coming out' which is obviously dangerous for baby.

anyone have any xperience or knowledge of this. Why do drs now think I could go into early labour which is what they seem to be afraid of.

I'll be worried sick between now and monday. Have been having stabbing pains downstairs for last couple of weeks, been saying its normal but now saying pains are due to 'nothing covering the cervix'. I am totalling stumped as to what they are going on about

Poor love. It sounds very worrying for you. I haven't had this, but I know that if the head's not engaged the baby can still turn.

Have you spent much time in 'hammock' position - i.e. on your hands and knees, creating a hammock for your baby with your tummy? The baby's spine is supposed to be the heaviest part of their torso, so when you regularly do this it encourages gravity to help them rotate.

Also (may sound odd, but it does apparently work - it's even mentioned by an obstetrician in my very respectable book on preg) you can 'ask' your baby to turn. I don't know why it works, maybe your mind sends chemical vibes which the baby interprets correctly.

Hi Dizzy

They are worried in case your waters break and the cord comes down through the cervix .

The baby's postion doesn't make early labour more likely just more risky if it did happen.

I was admitted at 37 weeks for unstable lie but they did try quite hard to induce me - baby turned again when I was in early labour so had a caesarean - at term. 3 weeks was a long time to be in hospital - take lots of books. don't know about the pains though.

Basically they want you to be in the right place just in case of the unlikely event of your waters breaking and the cord coming through when they would need to do an emergcy caesarean.

hope your baby's head gets into the right place by Monday

Good luck

Do you know a doula? Could you get in touch with one? They're usually amazing when it comes to dealing with this stuff in a more body-friendly way.

good luck x

Did he say it was a footling breech? That can increase the likelihood of a cord prolapse. Some babies do move around right up until birth - is it your first pregnancy though - if not, it does sound like they may be being a bit extreme to me.

You know of course that if you do find your waters go and you feel the cord you should get on hands and knees with your bum as high as possible and call an ambulance right?

But saying you are having pains because the head is not engaged. That's just bloody daft IMO!

is your baby transverse? i.e a shoulder is presenting rather than a head or feet or a bottom? if so, then you can only deliver via c.section, and as dizzy has mentioned if your waters break, there is a small risk the umbilical cord can wash down in front of the baby's head and the baby can come down and squash teh cord which can be an issue

a shoulder obviously is not a nice round 'plug' like a head or bottom, that covers the cervix so that if the waters break , the cord cannot go first.

that is why you must get to hospital ASAP if your waters go.

i would rest up as much as possible, and look at www.spinningbabies.com which has some useful tips re getting baby into a good position.

try not to panic, and fingers crossed you get to monday without any issue

stabbing pains might just be part and parcel of late pregnancy, try not to worry and don;t do anything that can stimulate contractions such as sex!

as WMMC says if your waters do go, get on the floor in the knee chest position, bum as high as possible, don;t worry about feeling for the cord, just get into position and call 999

i would make sure your mobile phone is about your person at all times!!

lulumama - I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question? been dying to ask since had DS 18 months ago and hijacked NJ's labour thread?

I went through 1st pg just fine and was booked for a home birth. Waters broke spontaneously on due date then contractions stopped. Walked round for a bit and they increased quite quickly (between 1.30 and 5.30 am) to over a minute in length and less than a minute apart, so rang MW. MW came and did internal, said I was only 2cms dilated and head not engaged and we needed to transfer straight to hospital because of risk of cord coming out.

I continued contracting whilst strapped to a ruddy machine on a ruddy bed (exactly why I didn't want to go in hospital in the first place) and head never engaged. At 13.30 they said I needed an ECS as baby starting to struggle. I was high as a kite on pethidine by this point and I swear there was no break between contractions.

Errrr, what happened? I had a scan at 38 weeks to get approval for home birth and they said the head was engaged...

I had transverse lie till 36wks. Was seen at regular Thursday appt with MW who sent me for presentation scan the following Monday and lo and behold, after at least 10 wonky weeks, the little blighter had turned. Still in a silly position but now head down at least. Had the same warning 'if waters break, arse in the air & dial 999' and we did discuss the possibility of elective C-Section. But MW was careful to make me understand that she was not overly concerned with the position as this is my 1st pregnancy and baby had lots of time to turn. There was no mention of me being admitted at all, so either they are being very cautious with you, or they were to blase with me! I'm sure you're sick of hearing it but there is time for baby to turn and the spinning babies link is a good one Good luck, and try not to worry

OK Dizzy please dont quote me on this .... my advice is purely as one mum to another .
FIrstly you have to try to relax . think positive thoughts and Prehaps ,as you are worried, arrange to see or prehaps phone a sympathetic midwife Tomorrow .... to discuss further and clarify .

In the meantime .....
From the details you gave above ....

OK Your cervix needs The babies Head ( or bum if it breech ) to be squished right up against it.....consistantly .....If its gonna dilate properly ( or Open ) . Think of an orange ...in a sock ....and you are squeezing along the sock to make the orange pop out the open end . ( This is just a concept oK ....so Non squished cervixes can still dilate ....but it could be slower ... ) You See - dilation is not just opening its also thinning and flattening AND opening .

Right . Next bit . Well in your case the head is not engaged ...which means its too high ....
THE PROBLEM would arise IF and only IF you go into labour AND your waters also broke . Normally if this happens its no biggie really . You just head in to hospital ...or have your home birth or suchlike . Usually not all the waters come out ...only the forewarter....The pool of fluid just ahead of the babies head . The head acts as a plug or very big stopper IYSWIM.

Now in your case it seems the head is high . In this case ...IF IF your waters broke ..you would get a woosh of fluid but of course anything in the fluid could also wHossh out...and Unfortunately that could also inclusde the cord .
If that happens the cord itself can be squeezed ..very serious for baby . Its called CORD Prolapse . ITS VERY VERy rare .
But I think that the staff looking after you are doing a VERY good job to warn you of these things .
Only downside is .... warning people causes A LOT of Unnecessary Worry .
All you gotta do is follow their advise . Try to stay calm .
I really hope that helps somewhat . !

cal. baby's heads can engage and re-engage.. if baby was deemed engaged at some point, perhaps baby moved head and was not descending or went OP hence the slow dilation: i would definitely see about going through your notes and getting a clearer idea about what happenend

whe he was born, he had a tendency to sleep with his head on the side and twisted so his mouth was 'on top' of his head, IYSWIM, which made me think perhaps he got stuck. He straightened out after a couple of weeks and took him to a cranial osteopath and all well.

They went through his notes WRT why we had a C-section, they showed me the monitor that was on his heart and it kind of dropped out every time I had a big contraction, which they said they thought was because of the cord getting squished. He was deemed as engaged at the 38 week scan. When I asked what had happened they said it could have been because he got stuck or he could have been too big for me.

I guess I'll never know really. What I was cross about was not having anyone making any efforts to help his head engage - just forced to lie on the bed. I asked for a birth ball and they let me have one, but would only let me have it one side of the bed and G&A cable was short so had to kind of lean over bed at the same time and knees banged against metal bar on bed.

Turned out quite funny, I was constantly leaking waters and they left DH in charge of me and a cupboard full of pads to mop it up with, so he peeled the backs of two and stuck them to the bed to protect my knees. When we converted to ECS, we got to theatre and nurse said - what are these doing here?? I would have pmsl if hadn't been high on pethidine and virtually comatose.

Thanks for reading it...guess it must be hard for you when people ask and its all so variable...i knew you wouldn't be able to say, well cal, this is what happened and if you do x next time, it won't happen again....but still couldn't resist asking. Thank you again. x

DD used to sleep like that and she was persistent OP although i did deliver vaginally.

you might not have the answers, and there are , as you say a lot of variables.

there is nothing to indicate that the next labour you have will go the same way

i would look at optimal foetal positioning and another homebirth again. and take it from there.

being immobile or very restricted in your movements when you have a badly position baby is not that helpful, but i love the idea of using the inco pads as knee guards necessity is the mother of invention!!

thank you for all the comments, feel a little better now. Going to see midwife 2moro to discuss further. didn't feel able to ask consultant further questions as she seemed in a hurry!

I feel reassured now that I not more likely to go into labour between now and Monday and will be trying the all fours position to see if baby will move.

I do have a fibroid that has not grown very much since conceived and consultant suggested that it could be stopping baby from engaging.

thanks again

thank you for all the comments, feel a little better now. Going to see midwife 2moro to discuss further. didn't feel able to ask consultant further questions as she seemed in a hurry!

I feel reassured now that I not more likely to go into labour between now and Monday and will be trying the all fours position to see if baby will move.

I do have a fibroid that has not grown very much since conceived and consultant suggested that it could be stopping baby from engaging.

thanks again

My DS3 was oblique towards the end of my pregnancy, so i was admitted too with the promise of induction as soon as he was in the right position, he did go head down a few times, but they were too busy too induce me at that time so had to keep waiting and he kept turning...lol got their after about 5 days if i remember corrctly. There is a danger that cord will slip down the birth canal first and then baby head will put pressure on it and then babes will have lack of oxygen. The advice was as the others said, bum up, and dial 999!

With my next pregnancy, twins, i had leading twin as transverse and 2nd breech, the consultant then ( a different one) wasn't at all concerned about this happening?!

Hi Dizzy

My baby is the exact same position as yours diaganol with its head down, back to my back and my doc is basically playing it down and telling me to come in if my waters break but in a casual way - but then again I live very close to the hospital.

Just as an aside, I am doing all the hammock, birth ball stuff but still concerned about vaginal labour. If the baby stays in this position would anyone risk going into labour or would you just go for c section

Am a newbie so hope to avoid section but v scared of anything other than a straightforward positioning.

Mindy

mindy if your baby is transverse, you absolutly cannot deliver vaginally, the presenting part of the baby is deemed to be the shoulder and there is no way to vaginally deliver a transverse baby.