how cam I encourage my baby to engage

[camilla Notman]

I'm due on Monday, and saw the midwife yesterday who says the baby's head is on the brim of my pelvis, 3/5th engaged, am terrified of going very over due and having to be induced. any advice?

[staceyshoe]

Squatting for as long as possible as frequently as possible positions the baby's head deeper in your pelvis and puts more pressure on your cervix. It certainly can't hurt anything to try it!

[danotoyou2]

I had the same problem. My midwife had a trick that I'd never heard before.

Walk down a long, steep hill... and don't walk back up. The downward walking will encourage baby to slip into the pelvis, whereas walking up will move them right out again.

So either have someone pick you up at the bottom of the hill, or you can walk down stairs and take the elevator up again... and just keep doing that (for as long as you feel comfortable).

[alegna]

You're not "overdue" until 42 + weeks.

There is no need to induce for being "overdue"

-Angela

[nashvillemidwife]

I don't agree that walking back up the hill will "disengage" the baby. Any wide movements of the hip are going to open the pelvis and rock the baby down.

[doularosemary]

Originally Posted by staceyshoe

Squatting for as long as possible as frequently as possible positions the baby's head deeper in your pelvis and puts more pressure on your cervix. It certainly can't hurt anything to try it!

Is this your first baby? If not many women's babies do not fully engage until they are in labor.

If it is your first, more important to how far down your baby is right now is what position he/she is in. Do you know if the baby is OA or OP? Because if your baby is in a posterior position you don't want him/her to slide down any further in that position.

And actually squatting can be counter productive until the baby has engaged. There is a lot of great research around Optimal Fetal Positioning that suggests that squatting narrows the pelvic inlet and widens the pelvic outlet.

If your baby is in a good OA position you might try rocking on a birth ball, taking stairs 2 at a time and rotation your hips like belly dancing moves.

[rmzbm]

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