2 ?'s about descent

[snugglebug14]

1. If a baby descends to a +2 station at 36 weeks, in your experience, how long is that baby likely to stay that low? (I know it can be impossible to predict when labor will start, but it would seem to me that a baby that low can't stay there too long)

2. Can a baby descend that low at 36 and "float" back up and be disengaged until 40 weeks when labor starts?

[MsBlack]

Yes, babies can move...anytime. No assumptions can be made, based on baby's position prior to labor's onset--and really, not even until mom is pushing! There are 'norms and averages' that tell us that a baby at +2 at 36weeks could be one that comes a bit early, or could be a baby whose position is already 'set' for birth. But of course, those 'norms and averages' do not cover every individual situation, and babies do move. Just helped at a birth where baby was at 0 station (engaged) at 38wks, and +2 in early labor....then she moved out of pelvis, turned this way and that (staying head down, but moved from left to right, down, up, down again) before active labor. We really began to think, early on, that we knew what was going to happen...we were wrong! But baby figured it all out in the end.

[bryonyvaughn]

Originally Posted by MsBlack

...Just helped at a birth where baby was at 0 station (engaged) at 38wks, and +2 in early labor....then she moved out of pelvis, turned this way and that (staying head down, but moved from left to right, down, up, down again) before active labor...

Oh, dear! I can imagine one of those cheesy profiles they show of Olympic athletes featuring the birth record of the trampoline competitor with a midwife interview. :