Need some reassurance....

[DS77]

Hi,

My wife is 33 weeks pregnant and went for her usual appointment with the midwife today.

She was told that our baby is in an "interesting" position. Basically her head is in the bottom corner of the belly(?!) and her feet in the opposite top corner (near her ribs i think).

My wife was told to come back in 3 weeks and if the mid-wife didn't think the baby had moved into the engage(?) position she will need to go and have a scan to see what's going on.

The midwife said it is nothing to worry about and that babies just lie in any position they feel comfortable in but if anything is not by the book I get a little nervous.

Has anybody had this before when they are pregnant? My biggest worry is that the baby's development might be compromised (stupid i know). I realise that she may be a couple of weeks behind in her pregnancy and that the baby could well move into the engage position as and when she is ready. I also realise that a c-section can be performed if the baby decides to stay where she is.

I suppose I'm just looking for some reassurance that this is quite normal.

Thanks in advance.

My DS1 was breach until about 36 weeks.

I think they still move around quite alot then.

If it was anything to worry about from a developmental pov they would not have sent you away for 3 weeks

congrats btw

Your midwife is describing an oblique lie. It's not typical nor is it abnormal.

At 33 weeks, there is plenty of time for your baby to get into a good position, but one of the things that they will be doing from now on in antenatal checks is monitoring your baby's position.

There could be a reason why your baby is in this position which may have implications for a normal birth. By being aware of this, the midwife can plan accordingly. There won't be any question about the health of your baby just because of her position.

Thanks for the replies

Sorry what's a DS1?!

dearson1
congrats and good luck with your baby

DS77 my first baby was in the oblique position you describe until quite late in my pg. he then went straight head down, then back to oblique/transverse and then finally ended up properly head down and engaged at about 37/38 weeks.

it's early days yet, baby still has plenty of time to move, so try not to worry too much

Thanks everyone. I'm a nightmare...much worse than my wife

Can anyone explain the difference between a tranverse and oblique lie?

I've read that a tranverse lie can be down to an abnormal foetus which is a bit worrying.

Thanks

transverse is sort of across the tummy, oblique is more diagonal. I believe.

they're all normal though, baby will go into all sorts of positions before settling down.
I am sure if there were any abnormalities with your baby it would have been picked up at the 20 week scan. everything looked fine then presumably?

Yeh nothing was picked up at the 20 week scan and they didn't mention anything about about a low lying placenta either.

Thanks