1/5 Engaged What does this mean??

[jojo182]

Hi ive just come back from my gp for my 38 week appointment and when she felt for bump she said bumps head was a lot lower and she wrote in my notes 1/5 engaged but she didnt explain it. Does that mean baby is engaged fully or a bit. And how after engaging does labour start?? Im really confused lol xx

 

[Lynda09]

That would be that baby has got 1/5 to go to be fully engaged and 4/5 of baby are in your pelvis. I was getting so confused by all this as midwives send to look at it differently than we would!

Lynda

 

[jojo182]

oh ok, so its like bump is a fourth of the way engaged. Its so confusing, my doc never explained it she just wrote it in my notes and i didnt see it til i got home. It could still be wees before bump makes an appearance though right??

 

[pinkclaire]

It is confusing! Usually 1/5 engaged means that heads engaged 1/5, so 4/5 to go. But some midwifes write it 1/5 palpable which means they can only feel 1/5 of the head.

Put it this way, if your nearly fully engaged you will be very uncomfortable down there, hard to walk, feels a bit like a bowling ball between your legs lol. If you feel like that your probably pretty much there!

James was never more than 3/5 engaged before I went into labour and some people are never engaged. It's just the position of your baby and means things are heading in the right direction.

 

[jojo182]

aw thanks for your replies. Not feeling that uncomfortable at the moment, its just frustrating not knowing what all this medical jargon means. She didnt write palpable if that makes a difference. She just wrote 1/5 in the engaged box

 

[wild2011]

1/5 engaged is as engaged as u go, 4/5 would mean u still had to go all the way to 1/5 people often get this the wrong way round,

 

[cat lover]

Jojo - how funny the EXACT same thing happened to me at my GP yesterday. Again, she only wrote 1/5 in the box. I don't feel like I have a bowling ball between my legs though lol. I have carried low all the way through so I don't know if this makes a difference. Would be interesting to know how long, on average, it takes from being 1/5 to going into labour...anyone? xx

 

[pinkclaire]

^^ see we're all told different things! Very confusing!

 

[My bump]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

 

[cat lover]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

Darn, here I was thinking I was nearly there!

 

[wild2011]

ask ur mw as with my 4 lo's all my mw's have worked with 1/5 being almost there.

for example ive gone brim, 4/5th 3/5ths to 1/5th


check to be sure!

 

[pinkclaire]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

Darn, here I was thinking I was nearly there!

You could be Hun many people don't engage at all before labour don't let it dishearten you!

Have you had any stretching pains or cramping or anything? I got this terribly before my LO moved down a bit further!

 

[excitedgal]

I thought it meant you were almost fully engaged. I went yesterday and am 2 fifths engaged, 2 wks ago was 3 fifths engaged. I def feel like my bump has dropped significantly. My midwife friend told me that they count down from 5, so 4 fifths is a little, 3 fifths a bit more, 2 fifths almost there, 1 fifth just about fully engaged. Im due on Mon so I hope she's coming soon!

 

[Sooz]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

My care is being overseen by a SMW and she does it the same way as you, LO was 1/5 engaged (or 4/5 palpable) for a good few weeks and moved to 3/5 engaged (or 2/5 palpable) this week.

I'm glad you've posted as I was getting so confused that my MW seemed to work backwards from everyone elses!

Also, in our notes, the box for recording this is entitled Fifths Palpable, rather than engaged. So she would tell me how engaged LO was but write fifths palpable in to my notes.

 

[pinkclaire]

Most just write 1/5 etc and don't specify whether that's engaged or palpable which is why it gets so confusing you just need to ask which way they do it!

 

[cat lover]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

Darn, here I was thinking I was nearly there!

You could be Hun many people don't engage at all before labour don't let it dishearten you!

Have you had any stretching pains or cramping or anything? I got this terribly before my LO moved down a bit further!

Thanks hon - no, absolutely no signs at all, so I think it will probaby be a while yet - think I was getting excited over nothing . What a shame they don't explain which way round they mean! x

 

[Rachel_C]

I don't think it makes much difference what it means really. I think I've read that it's common, especially in your first pregnancy, to engage early and stay there or even for baby to pop back out a little bit. I was engaged for weeks before I gave birth last time.

 

[chlojones]

you are nearly there if you look in your pregnancy notes it has a page telling you what engagement means hunnie, your baby is fully in your pelvis and cant drop anymore xxx

 

[MidnightSun]

I was getting a bit confused with this as well, but my MW has now actually written palpable next to all of it... and as of this morning I am only 1/5th palpable

 

[Lauki]

I am a student midwife. 1/5 means your baby is 1/5th engaged into the pelvis so has 4/5ths to go. They dont tend to get much lower than 3/5ths engaged usually though. Some doctors and midwives do write it the other way around, so always ask how many 5ths engaged they are xx

In my green notes it says as explanation:

'Engagement is how deep the presenting part - e.g. the baby's head - is below the brim of the pelvis. It's measure by the proportion which can be still felt through the abdomen, in fifths; 5/5 = free; 4/5 = sitting on the pelvic brim; 3/5 = lower but most is still above the brim; 2/5 = engaged, as most is below the brim; and 1/5 or 0/5 = deeply engaged, as hardly still palpable from above.

So that's exactly the other way around as how you use it! It's so confusing !