A Question about Engaging

What does failure to engage indicate?

My girl is head down, she has been for months. But she is only 4/5 engaged at 39w1d :(. What are the chances of spontaneous labour if she doesn't engage fully soon? I expected her to engage at 36 weeks. Does the head need to be further down to put pressure on the cervix?

Also, if she engages late does that mean I am likely to go well overdue? I thought that it took a week or more of pressure on the cervix because the head has dropped to start dialation etc.

I had an internal last week (my choice), and apparantly my cervix is long and closed.I am trying to stay positive but this is clawing away at my confidence in my body to give birth. Why won't she engage? :wall:

Do you mean she's 4/5 of the way down? Or 1/5 of the way down? i get confused, they all write it differently.

Anyway, don't worry about it! DD never engaged, she was still only 1/5 of the way down when I went into labour :)

She is your first baby (I am assuming by your ticker down the bottom of your profile) usually they do engage by now. It will really depend on how high her head is and there is still time for her to engage before the onset of labour. Are you active for the last couple of months? Was your job an office job where you sit down alot or are you on the go alot? We find ladies having their first babies that are on there feet alot (from working or exercise, cleaning etc the baby will engage sooner due to gravity however if your sitting alot due to work then the baby is less likely to engage as quickly as they are if your standing up) gravity plays a big part so I would try being in positions that will encourage her to go down lower. That will be hard at your gestation maybe a beanbag and you could lean over it sort of on hand and knees.

The average gestation for a first mother is 40weeks and 8days so maybe she isn't ready to come down yet. You can still go into labour however if she is not engaged. Its not as likely as her head will not be pushing as hard on the cervix encouraging it to open and commence contraction or to soften the cervix. It does happen though when the baby is considered to have a high presenting part that labour will start anyway.

Sometimes even being head down they are not in the right position to descend into the pelvis further or your pelvis might be a shape or size preventing her from descending any further. Maybe she needs to bake longer before feeling she is ready to be born or else there is a reason she can't come down. Either way its a bit early to tell. Its not to late for her to come down or if she doesn't your Obstetrician will discuss with you your mode of delivery and what you prefer.


Now if this is not your first baby then it doesn't usually matter if the head is high as once labour commences the babys head will then descend. Good luck. Hope you have a smooth sailing birth and you don't have to wait long to meet your little princess.

hun DD1 didnt engage till I was in labour! She was born at 41wks. Although 1st babies can engage early, they dont always, and it doesnt mean you wont be able to birth your bub :)

Just re-read your post. 4/5th is not high so I think its just a waiting game now. With her head not engaged yet and your cervix being long and closed there is a good chance you will go overdue (which is very common with first babies) Alot can happen in a week though and there are things you can do to encourage labour to start on its own. I hope your labour starts soon for you so you can meet your baby. The last week seems to go for ever when your most anxious about meeting your little one.

SJ - there is 4/5 of her head above the pelvis, 1/5 below. I just want a natural birth and now I am worried that her head simply doesn't fit and thats why it wont engage.

Oh ok then, well that was the same as me then. DD was still the same when I went into labour! Don't worry, it will happen! I had to wait 12 extra days but it DID happen!! :hug:
It's really very unlikely that it's because she won't fit. Maybe talk to your Doula about your worries so that when you go into labour you don't have those thoughts in the back of your head? :hug: You'll be great!!

it might also be a case of not quite right position. check out optimul fetal positioning. its the whole hands and knees, bum in the air, making sure you dont lounge around to much tver sitting on a ball or backwards on adining chair.

my biggest tip is forget you were ever given a due date they cause so much heart ache and make women agonise...over a silly date your DD will come when she is ready and being a first time mum you are most likely going to go over due.
3 weeks(until 42 weeks) isnt that long yes your eager to meet her but its ONLY 3 weeks you have already come 39 weeks!! enjoy your time as just you and your dh(everyone says it for a reason) your lives are about to change in a huge way which is such a major change that you should enjoy those moments of when you know you can be selfish...

The thought of having to do this until 42 weeks is just terrible. I really really want a natural birth. I have been trying to put my mind in the right space for labour. I don't want an induction, but it is so hard to sit around waiting, especially when she isn't engaged and I have these lingering thoughts that maybe she won't :doh:.

I guess it doesn't make it easier that I am one of the last people due in my thread, a first timer, and someone quite close to me due a few days before me had her baby two weeks ago.

And, my family just wont freakin stop calling me :wall:.

Out of everything I have experienced in pregnancy, the wait at the end has been the hardest, most challenging and most surprising part. If someone could give me a date that she would come, and promised it would be a natural birth, I think I could be more relaxed.

Sorry :redface: hormonal rant / needed to get that out.

:hug: hang in there hun!! I know its awful waiting... bub IS going to come :) youll do great. Have FAITH!!

I so now how u are feeling. My bubbs is playing silly buggers, was breech last week and then turned. its doing me in emotionally. Not alot we can do just gotta wait together.

hang in there!! i know exactley how you feel!

DS was due30th august he was born 14th sept(42+1).. so not only was i last in my belly group the sept girls were popping before me. i was soo hard i was in sooo much pain.
but now having birthed another baby at (41+2) i know the difference between a life time and a few weeks. your pg only for a few months but have a child for a life time and usually after the first few weeks of having a baby you forget you ever had a life before(well not forget but realise)
so i know it seems like this pain and discpmfort will go on for ever but it wont. it will stop and its only a few weeks away.
your baby is waiting for the right time...when mummy is really ready and the stars are alligned...

YOU can have your natural birth but i think you need to forget the dates..

Don't sweat it ;)

I just did a birth last week, first baby and the mother went into labour at 39w and got to 8cm before the baby fully engaged. Then in a matter of two hours the baby came down and was born. Granted it took her 30 hours to get that far (obviously because there wasn't good contact from the head) but the point is she went into labour, she wasn't overdue and she laboured just fine.

I had another mum whose baby wasn't engaged last Friday and she is in early labour this morning - three days after EDD w/first baby.

Fixating on this isn't a great idea because not every baby will engage prior to labour and all it does is stress you out which in itself can delay the onset of labour.

Your body knows what it's doing! It's your job to trust it ;) You can do it :)

My bub was engaged at station 3/5 at week 38, and supposedly at station 2/5 at week 39, so backwards progress!!! My waters broke and I went into hard, fast labour and birth at 39 + 5, so that doesn't mean anything, might just engage right before birth! Didn't have internal until labour though so don't know about the same is true of the cervix.

Thanks everyone.

BM - Isn't it madness? I think the mental battle is harder than the birth! Hang in there, not long for both of us. This will all be over by June for sure!

sas85 - I think 2/5 is more engaged than 3/5, so that isnt backwards progress.

tobily - thanks for those two stories. I wish I didn't have to go and see my GP weekly, because the information he gives me (which I am not sure is correct) just serves as stimulus for stress. Today he said that first babies often don't engage until birth, but subsequent babies engage from about 34-36 weeks. I thought it was the opposite? He also thought I was now 3/5ths, but it was a super quick visit and he must have spent three or four seconds feeling my belly. Bubs is also posterior.

dou - you are so right about forgetting the dates. I have been trying to mentally reset my countdown now so that 42w or 40w+10 is the due date. 3 weeks at most to go.

*deep breaths*

I think I just need to relax and visualise this baby coming out, vaginally, head first, the way nature intended.

If she's posterior that could be the reason. Get on your hands and knees now!! LOL. It really works! Check out the spinning babies website. Are you still seeing Beau? He can help and will give you some moxa to burn near a point on your little toe to help baby turn and engage. I still have heaps of it left if you want it!!

Oooh I didn't think about seeing Beau again. I haven't seen him since I started taking medication for heartburn (that was the only reason I was seeing him). Plus it started getting too expensive seeing him every fortnight :redface:.

Thanks Heaven :D.

oscar: yes thats me, ah i agree with you. this is mentally harder i reckon. June lol nooooo

BM - I think we need to start visualising June 1, sitting at home, cradling our bubbies in our arms... a lot will happen between now and June 1, but we will have our babies by then. I can't wait to smell her and cuddle her and see if she has daddies nose LOL. Those thoughts are a lot more comforting than thinking about dilating and engaging :D.