How to tell if baby is head down and almost ready for the big day? The answers to this question are important to any mom-to-be because the baby’s position relates directly to how complicated the labor and delivery might be. Also, figuring out how the baby is situated is helpful for planning ahead with your OB/Gyn. in the event a C-section is necessary or even to try to avoid one altogether.
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There are a few different ways to tell if baby is head down. Some are procedures performed by you or your obstetrician. Others are physical changes and symptoms that you might experience during the last trimester.
They include:
- Belly Mapping
- Lightening
- Leopold’s Maneuvers
Another way of figuring out how to tell if baby is head down involves good old-fashioned intuition based on where you feel the movement or “kicking”. Though this is not quite reliable, it’s worth mentioning just for the sake of developing the habit of tracking baby’s movements.
What You (or the Doctor) Will Need
The items needed depend on who is determining where the baby’s head is located in your womb. More than likely, your obstetrician or midwife will employ:
- A fetoscope
- A Doppler (if the practitioner prefers that instrument for listening to baby’s heartbeat)
- Ultrasound scanner, video monitor, and a transducer
If you are figuring out how to tell if baby is head down, then your list of necessary supplies is less complex. They include:
- Washable marker or finger paint
- A prop, like a doll, with head and limbs (this is used as a guide for belly mapping)
- A camera (to take a picture in case you decide to get creative with drawing your belly map)
- A keen sense of touch
You will find that all procedures related for telling where the baby’s head is located will be quite simple and painless.
How to tell if Baby is Head down Using a Belly Map
One very interesting and amusing way to figure out how to tell if baby is head down is a method called Belly Mapping. The procedure is quite simple, but you might need someone else to help you draw on your belly or to hold the prop while you draw.
Plus, this procedure is best performed right around the eighth month. You can try this at home, but a doctor or midwife, who has a fetoscope or Doppler readily available, can locate the baby’s heartbeat.
1. Finding the Head
You will need to lie down and apply a small amount of pressure on your pelvic area to feel for the baby’s head. It will feel round almost like a very small bowling ball. Mark that spot with the marker. (To remember which mark is which, later on, you might consider using the first letter, like “H” for “head.”)
2. Locating the Heartbeat
If this is taking place during a routine check-up, then the doctor will use the fetoscope or a Doppler instrument to locate and check the baby’s heartbeat. Once this is completed, mark the spot where the heartbeat was found with the marker. You can also draw a heart.
If you have a really great memory, then try to recall the spot where your obstetrician found the heartbeat and mark it.
3. Using the Doll as a Guide
Using the marks for the heartbeat and the head as guides, use the doll to guess at possible positions that the baby might be in. You might have to periodically repeat this step if you’re drawing a more elaborate picture of your baby.
4. Locating the Bum
Next, you will locate the baby’s bum by feeling around the top of your stomach. The bum will feel rather hard and round, though not as much as the head. You will then mark it on your belly.
5. Finding & Marking the Limbs
Then, you will need to focus on how the baby is moving (or recall any previous patterns of movement). You can possibly determine the hands from the feet based on locations of the head, heartbeat, and bum. Mark those spots with the marker.
6. Filling in the Details
Now that you have all the necessary marks for guides, you can draw a sketch of your baby. For a more creative touch, consider using finger paint or more markers to create an artistic image of your baby. Take a picture of your drawing to share with family and friends.
So this is probably the most exciting and creative method for you to figure how to tell if baby is head down.
Lightening During the Third Trimester
Lightening occurs when the baby “drops” down during the final stages of pregnancy usually around two to four weeks before delivery, though for some moms it may not happen until right before labor starts.
Changes that Happen during Lightening
- The urgent need to go to the bathroom more often
- Ability to breathe more easily since the baby is no longer pushing up on the lungs
- Less heartburn if that has been a problem during the first part of the third trimester
- A slight change in the shape of your stomach
So how to tell if baby is head down, as opposed to a breach or even a transverse position? A practitioner might be better equipped to determine which station the baby is in at this point. Stations are measurements of how far down the baby’s head is located.
The Three Stations
- -3 – where the baby’s head is just above the pelvis
- 0 – where the baby’s head is “engaged” or touching the bottom of the pelvic region
- +3 – when you’re in the last stages of labor and the baby is “crowning.”
What is important to remember is as your baby moves from one station to the next, you will definitely feel the pressure and eventually, the urge to push.
Leopold’s Maneuvers to locate your baby’s head
Unless your practitioner decides to perform another ultrasound, he or she will perform a simple, painless procedure called Leopold’s Maneuvers to determine the location of the baby’s head. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Palpation
The doctor palpates or feels around for the top of the uterus through your abdomen. This is done in order to figure out which end is facing the top of the uterus. This also helps to determine the direction that baby is facing.
2. Location of Limbs and Spine
Then, the doctor firmly applies pressure with both hands on both sides of your stomach to feel for limbs and to locate the baby’s spine.
3. Search for the Head
Afterward, the doctor will place fingertips and thumb where your lower abdomen and pelvis meet and apply pressure. He or she is feeling for the head to determine whether or not it is facing downward and if it is, to see how far down the head is located.
4. Direction of the Head
After returning back toward your upper stomach area to palpate and make sure that is the baby’s bum, the doctor will apply firmer pressure with fingertips to the pelvic area to determine, for sure, that the round, hard mass is indeed the baby’s head and which direction it is facing.
At this point, if there is still any question of how the baby is positioned inside the womb, the doctor will perform another ultrasound just to be sure the baby’s head is down.
Conclusion
So did you find these instructions interesting and helpful? Trying the belly map can give you a memorable and artistic image of how your baby is located in the womb. Likewise, the symptom of lightening along with a doctor’s application of Leopold’s Maneuvers will give you the reassurance that the baby is in head-down position and ready for a safe delivery. Even just knowing how the doctor goes about determining the baby’s position will help you to feel more relaxed at your next appointment.
What do you think about the idea of attempting a belly map? Or what are your thoughts on palpation to find your baby’s position? Please feel free to share your insight with us and to share this information with your fellow moms-to-be.
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