What does the head position shown on B-ultrasound mean?

Many pregnant women have to go to the hospital for some examinations at a certain time period after they become pregnant, and B-ultrasound is one of the necessary examinations. Through B-ultrasound, expectant parents can see the current development and growth status of their baby. The word "head position" appears on the B-ultrasound report, and the main meaning of this word is the position of the baby's head during its current development in the uterus.

What does fetal head position mean?

The cephalic presentation is the normal fetal position, that is, the head of the fetus is delivered from the mother's body first. This is a common fetal position and also the best fetal position for pregnant mothers to give birth naturally. However, it should be noted that the fetal position may change throughout the pregnancy, so the last ultrasound should be taken as the standard. If it is not a head position, you can do some gymnastics or massage to get it right.

How to check fetal position

Currently, there are two main methods for checking fetal position, one is B-ultrasound examination and the other is four-step palpation. B-ultrasound examination is intuitive and clear. The four-step palpation rule requires an experienced doctor to determine the position of the fetal head and buttocks through palpation. The four-step palpation method is the most commonly used method for prenatal examination and starts after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The four-step palpation method can be used to determine the position and size of the fetus, whether the size of the uterus is consistent with the gestational age, the mode of delivery, fetal presenting part, fetal position, etc., and to estimate the amount of amniotic fluid. Here is how to check the fetal position.

1. The examiner places both hands on the fundus of the uterus, measures the height of the fundus, and estimates whether the size of the fetus is consistent with the gestational age. Then use the fingertips of both hands to push gently alternately to determine the position of the fetus at the fundus of the uterus. If it is the fetal head, it will be hard, round and have a floating ball feeling. If it is the fetal buttocks, it will be soft, wide and slightly irregular in shape.

2. The examiner places his hands on the left and right sides of the abdomen respectively. One hand fixes the abdomen, and the other hand gently presses deeply to examine, alternating between the two hands from top to bottom. The flat and full part you feel is the fetal back, and you can determine whether the fetal back is facing forward, sideways or backward. The deformable uneven parts you touch are the fetal limbs, and sometimes you can feel the fetal limbs moving.

3. The examiner separates the thumb of his right hand from the other four fingers, places them above the pubic symphysis to hold the fetal presenting part, further confirms whether it is the fetal head or buttocks, and then pushes left and right to determine whether it is connected. If the presenting part of the fetus can still move left or right, it means that it has not yet been connected to the human pelvis. If engaged, the presenting part cannot be pushed.

4. The examiner places his left and right hands on both sides of the fetal presenting part, and presses deeply downward along the pelvic incision to further verify whether the judgment of the fetal presenting part is correct and determine the degree of the fetal presenting part into the pelvis. When the fetal head is the presenting part, one hand can smoothly enter the pelvic incision, while the other hand is blocked by the bulge of the fetal head, which is called the fetal head protuberance. In occipital presentation, the fetal head protuberance is the frontal bone, which is on the same side as the fetal limbs; in face presentation, the fetal head protuberance is the occipital bone, which is on the same side as the fetal back.