Head engagement

Hi!
Was just wondering if anyone could explain, or point me in the right direction, of baby head engagement! hehe

what does it mean for 5/5, 4/5, 3/5 etc.
And what bearing do these numbers have on impending labour.. if any?

Cheers:)

5/5 Is fully engaged and it works on a sliding scale, so 2/5 is just above the brim I *think*. But it still gives no indicator of how long until labour starts, just that baby is engaged and ready to go.

I been 5/5 since my 32wk appt & stil no action here!!!!!
my 36wk appt it says 'FIXED'.

Hmm, I reckon that means, it's fixed & not leaving anytime soon!!!!

I thought it was backwards? Like 2/5 means that there is 2/5 left still to engage, 4/5 still has 4/5 left to engage. Does that make sense? So you are most engaged when you are 1/5 engaged. I could be wrong though!! LOL

Linda, some Dr's/obs do it that way too.

I thought 5/5 was all the way... not going back up....

I hope Zyon doesnt keep u waiting to long Tracey....5/5 since 32 weeks is a long time!

Yep I know it's like I have a boof head stuck in my.... Well you get the picture!!!

Linda I asked & she said fully engaged & grabbed Zyons neck'(?) sorta thingy to show me... But I have heard it can be read opposite as well!!!

LOL at grabbing the neck Tracey! No worries, I stand corrected. Isn't it crazy that they do it both ways! You'd think they'd find a universal way to write it!

Ha Ha Linda, women have been having babies since... Well forever & I have read so many varying Ob, Midwife opinions etc on here by all the various ladies & stages of preg, that I'd probably be knocked over with a feather if 2 ever agreed!!! LOL

Thanks:)
I have got 5/5 written on my card.. so I guess fully engaged it is... woohoo.
I hope that this for me, means something is happening...although all these pains im getting might suggest that too...I HOPE!!!

It is actually the other way around. I asked my doctor this the other day as she wrote 4/5 on my card. She said the lower the number (5/5, 4/5, 3/5, 2/5, 1/5, 0/5) the more engaged the babies head is.Basically it is to do with the finger widths or cm's above the pelvis bubs head was.. So you count down and when you get to 1/5-0/5 you are pretty much fully engaged.

Tegan, as above it depends onw hich way your Midwife/Ob etc use the measurements...

Mine siad 5/5 fully engaged & fixed...

At my last appointment I am apparently 5/5, meaning 5cm above fully engaged

Nicki, is your measurement by the midwives, or your ob?

If it's the midwives they did 4/5 with a little arrow pointing up for me, so check if you've got any arrows seeing as they are the same midwives. and I know my little bugger definetly wasn't engaged much at that appointment. I have an appointment tomorrow, so I'll try to remember to check with them, what i am and what it means.
It should have changed for me as I have felt a lot more pressure over the last 2 weeks, but I still don't feel like he's descending!!

Yeah no arrows, but it was done by a registrar.... so not sure.
I too have an appt tomorrow...... hehe

I will def be asking then!

This mystery WILL be solved in 24 hours!! hehe

Oh yeah, my OB put a little arrow next to mine too. So maybe some of the ones who do it 'backwards' use the arrow to clarify?

when my midwife did mine she said that a fifth equals a finger... so say you lay a finger along the top of your pubic bone... horizontally along your nickers line... thats 1/5 engaged , meaning bubs head would be just poking out of your pelvis...
therefore- 0/5 engaged you would be able to feel no head when you put that finger along the top of your pubic bone as bubs head would be in your pelvis(and you would more than likely have a sexy waddle going on) and 5/5 engaged means you can line up all your fingers along your pubic bone as bubs head is still up there...
did that make sense???
so with 4/5 and an arrow going up the page, the arrow means 4/5 of the head are not in the pelvis, 4/5 not engaged, 1/5 engaged.

Just had my midwife appt & a different moidiwfe whom said defiantely Zyon is & has been fully engaged as thats'the way they measure!

So as I said above, they all have their own ways of doing it, berst to ask your particular caregiver to ask which way they do it! On top of that he has move from his posterior position into a much bettyer position... WOOO HOOO!

Yay on Zyon moving Trace!!! Now just time for him to move out! ;)

okies, so at ANC appt today, found out that it goes 5/5.......1/5 being fully engaged...

I am now 3/5 so half way! joy.

lol

Lets hope so Linda.. although she said prepare for another 41weeker! As both girls were 41wkers!!!

See Nicky they all do it differently hey!

good job nicki,

I am also 3/5 although they had a little trouble finding the little fellas neck. It hurt me, so hopefully they didn't stress him out too much. he hates being proded, and goes all quite. kicking away again now.

If your engagement is the same as mine, maybe you will still be around in a few weeks!! I'm not due until the 27th

Hey there ...
This may be a really dumb question, but those numbers you are using 5/5 etc ... who is measuring you and when? I am 33w and have never been given any numbers ... should I have?
If you are 5cm above engagement does that give some indication of DD or something? Why do we get this info?

Thanks!

Nox it's probably still to early to measure esp if it's your first!

Your Ob, or midwife will measure when working out if baby is head down or not, maybe the next appt or 2!

Nope it bears nothing on your due date!!!

Thanks Tracey. My Ob has told me at my last app that bubs is head down and I was able to squish around and feel the head (a bit eeewwww!). Does that mean that once bubs is head down unlikely to move upright again?
It is my first I know I sound v keen for it to move along!

nox- bubs head can move up and down a bit before becoming fully engaged.. i know i went form 3/5 to 2/5 to 4/5 to 3/5 to fully engaged.. its hard not to get excited tho babe...
i could hear your excitement in your post.... good luck with everything

Nox, bubs can bounce aroubnd in that region for a while & some do rotate back around..... to head up... but you just never know....

As the others said they do move, but every appointment I've had since they started checking he's been head down.

I swear in between visits he's been doing circle work though, lol

Yeah totally believe that this little one is an acrobat -- especially right now! I feel a constant pressure low though and sometimes a sharp pain and even feels heavy underneath when I sit down, which is freaky. it is funny adn hard to even sit because there is just so much in the way!
My next app w ob is on Monday so I will see if the bub has moved around then and ask about these crazy numbers -- I want one too!! haha