Your baby will turn and roll quite a bit while in the womb! It can be a fun and magical experience to feel your baby move, and exciting to try to determine what positions he is in. Whether you're just curious or getting closer to your due date, there are medical and home methods for finding out the baby's position in the womb, although some are more accurate than others. Try some, and if in doubt, ask your doctor or midwife for help.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Explore Your Abdomen and Notice What You Feel
Step 1. Keep a movement journal
It could be fun to be able to remember all the different positions of your baby during your pregnancy. Keep a journal, planner, or notebook to document. Whenever you have the opportunity, write down the date, your week of pregnancy and the position of your baby.
Step 2. Touch your abdomen to locate the hard lumps
Although it is not an exact science, you could locate your baby's head or bottom just by touching your abdomen. Press gently and try to relax while you do it: press while you do it. A hard, round lump like a small bowling ball is probably the baby's head; a round but softer bulge could be her butt. Use some of these standard guidelines to assess your baby's position:
- Do you have a lump on the right or left of the abdomen? Press gently: if the whole baby is moving, he may be in a tummy position (cephalic position).
- If you feel a hard, round lump under your ribs, it could be the baby's head, meaning the baby is in a breech (head up) position.
- If the two hard, round areas (head and bottom) are on the sides of the belly, your baby may be lying horizontally. Babies usually leave this position at 8 months.
Step 3. Indicate where you feel the kicks
Babies kick, and that may be one of the easiest ways to imagine how they are positioned in the womb. If you feel it kicking above the navel, the baby is probably head down. If you feel the kicks below the navel, the baby is probably head up. Just imagine where the baby's feet and legs might be based on where you feel the kicks.
If you feel the kicks around the middle of the abdomen, the baby could find himself in a posterior position, that is, with his head down with his back on your back. Your abdomen may also look flatter than rounded in this position
Method 2 of 3: Use Medical Practices
Step 1. Ask a health professional to teach you how to feel your baby
Trained professionals can often tell your baby's position by simply touching your abdomen. The next time he does, ask him to guide you. He can give you tips and advice on how to do it at home.
Ask him to touch your abdomen along with him so that you can become familiar with the ways different parts of your baby feel from outside the uterus
Step 2. Listen to the baby's heartbeat
Although it won't tell you everything about the baby's position, finding his heart can give you some indication of the way he's lying down. If you happen to have a fetoscope or stethoscope at home, use it to listen to your abdomen. If not, ask your partner or loved one to put their ear to your abdomen in a quiet space. You can usually use your heartbeat this way in the last two months of pregnancy, although pinpointing your heart can be difficult. Listen in different places to see where the heartbeat is loudest and clearest.
- If the heartbeat is stronger below the mother's navel, the baby is probably head down; above the navel, with the head up.
- Listen through a roll of toilet paper to amplify the sounds.
Step 3. Get an ultrasound
Ultrasounds are the only way to know for sure where the baby is. Ultrasound uses sound waves to take a picture of the baby in the womb. Schedule regular ultrasounds with your obstetrician, gynecologist or midwife to see how your baby is doing or simply to determine how it is in your uterus.
- Schedule an ultrasound in the first trimester and again in the second trimester or more frequently if your baby's health needs to be monitored. Ask your healthcare professional for details about when to get an ultrasound.
- The latest ultrasound technology can produce extremely clear images of the baby, although not all offices have them.
Method 3 of 3: Mapping Your Belly
Step 1. Gather your supplies
Mapping the abdomen could be a challenge, but a fun one. In the eighth month of pregnancy, draw a map of your abdomen after seeing a health professional for an ultrasound or a fetal heart check. Go home and gather some non-toxic paints or markers and a doll with movable limbs.
Step 2. Find the baby's head
Lie on your back where you feel comfortable and pull up your shirt. Use firm pressure and touch the pelvic area to feel a hard, rounded shape. Use art supplies to trace a circle for your baby's head.
Step 3. Locate the baby's heartbeat
Trace a heart in the area of the baby's heartbeat - a healthcare professional has likely shown you where the baby is in the office. If not, use a stethoscope or fetoscope if you have one, or ask a loved one to put their ear to your abdomen and tell you where the heartbeat is strongest.
Step 4. Touch your abdomen to feel the baby's bottom
Gently touch around the baby's bottom, which will be hard and round, but softer than the head. Mark it on your abdomen.
Step 5. Color anywhere you can feel
A long, flat area could be the baby's back, the bulging points could be the knees or elbows. Think about where you've been feeling the kicks. Mark any other outstanding spots you can find.
Step 6. Place the doll in different positions
He begins to play with the doll, moving it to possible positions depending on where the baby's head and heart are. This can help you better visualize your baby's position.
Step 7. Be creative if you want
Draw or paint your baby as an art project or take some fun pictures. This can be a great keepsake.
Advice
- It can be difficult to feel the parts of your baby if your body is muscular or if you have a lot of fat in the abdomen. The position of the placenta can also affect how you feel - you may not feel many movements and kicks in the front of your abdomen if the placenta is in the front of your tummy (an anterior placenta).
- It will be easier to use home methods after 30 weeks of pregnancy. Before that, an ultrasound is by far the best method.
- Babies are generally more active after you eat a meal. This is a good time to pay attention to movements and kicks.
Warnings
- Make a plan with your doctor or midwife if you are close to delivery and your baby is in a breech position or in a transverse (horizontal) position. In these positions, you may need a C-section if the baby cannot move into a better position for delivery.
- If you touch your belly to determine your baby's position and you have a contraction from false labor, stop and wait for it to pass. It doesn't hurt you or your baby, but you won't be able to touch your baby until it passes.
- It's a good idea to start watching your baby's movements at week 28 of pregnancy. Typically, you should feel about 10 kicks or other movements within 2 hours. If you don't feel that many movements, don't panic - just wait a few hours and try again. If you still don't feel 10 kicks during the second count, call your OB / GYN.