You may be wondering, “What is belly mapping?” and I got you, mama! Belly mapping is a hands-on prenatal technique used to determine your baby’s position in a while in your belly!
So today you’re going to learn how to use belly mapping to determine your baby’s position, whether they are breech, head-down, lying across your belly (transverse), facing your front (known as occiput posterior), or facing your back (known as occiput anterior).
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What Does Occiput Posterior and Anterior Mean?
On the left side, I’m demonstrating occiput anterior (OA), which simply means the baby is head down and their face is towards mama’s spine.
Occiput anterior is the optimal position for the baby to be in for labor. Plus, this is even better if your baby is “left occiput anterior” (LOA), meaning the front of their face is also a bit to the left of mom’s pelvis. LOA helps your baby to become the smallest diameter possible to fit through the pelvis because the baby’s back can curve the most effectively in this position.
Check out 12 Movements to Engage Baby’s Head Into Your Pelvis! (Coming soon)
On this side, we have occiput posterior, meaning the baby is head down, but the front of their face is towards the front of mama’s pelvis.
An OP baby often causes back labor because with each contraction. You can feel their head moving down your spine, which is also a more challenging depending path for baby versus the occiput anterior path, thus why these labors tend to be slower!
Click here to learn movements and positions to help get your baby into an optimal position in your pelvis! (Coming soon)
Why Do People Use Belly Mapping?
Many people want to know if their baby is breech or cephalic because a vaginal birth can be a bit more complicated if the baby is breech.
In addition to figuring out if your baby is breech or head down, many parents also want to know if their baby is in occiput anterior or posterior position to prepare for their childbirth experience.
How to Use The Belly Mapping Tehnique
By 7-8 months, your baby will get bigger and settle into the position they will probably favor more!
For demonstration, I’m going to put this baby into a cephalic position. To belly map where your baby is, I recommend laying on your back on a comfortable surface like your bed or couch.
You’re going to begin feeling around for lumps, knobs, or squishy spaces.
And when feeling your belly, ensure you’re pushing from your wrist rather than your hand because using your hand will actually make your abs contract making it harder to differentiate if you’re feeling knobs or squishiness, which will be the amniotic fluid.
By the time you are 7-8 months pregnant, if your baby is head down, you’ll probably notice which side of your ribs they’re kicking a lot. So, this will be how you know their feet are there. Then you will go horizontally from their feet to their bottom. Remember, their bottom will feel like a knob, about the size of an orange.
From their bottom, you’ll move your hand down vertically, and it should feel firm all the way down!
Then on the other side, this will feel more like knobs and gaps.
Interested in learning how to kick count and why it’s beneficial? Check out, How to Kick Count for a Single Baby or Multiples!
What If Baby is Breech?
If your baby is breech you first probably won’t know which side of the ribs they favor kicking. Instead, you may feel kicking in your bladder or minimal movement at the bottom of your belly. This varies because of the different breech positions.
You may feel a cylinder shape towards the bottom of your belly which is the thigh coming off their bottom, and a firm ball at the top which could be your baby’s head.
Keep in mind that belly mapping isn’t as reliable as getting an extra ultrasound, so if you suspect your baby is breech at 8 months, you can get an ultrasound. If you’d like to avoid baby ultrasounds, ensure you have a skilled provider for belly mapping.
Some other areas of interest when you have a breech baby include:
- Which side the baby’s back is on. If you’re planning a vaginal breech birth, breech babies whose backs are on the right may have an easier rotation to come out.
- The location of the placenta
- Amount of head flexion (which means how much and in which way baby’s neck is bent)
- What type of breech position the baby is in at the moment. For example, we mentioned baby’s feet kicking the bladder versus minimal movement at the bottom of your belly would indicate different types of breech babies
- Head size in relation to their body which you can try to get determined with ultrasound. we want the head and body to be in the same proportion, rather than having the baby’s head much bigger than usual for the size of the body.
Is Baby Lying Accross Your Belly?
Now there’s another position I didn’t mention yet, and this is transverse! If your baby is laying sideways, nothing will be in your pelvis, no legs or head. Their limbs will lay across your belly, high, low, or right across, depending on how the baby is lying. The limbs might even be towards your back, which would make the baby seem less active. The bottom and baby’s head will still slide against the mother’s abdomen regularly, which will reassure their wellbeing.
Now there’s another position I didn’t mention yet, and this is transverse! If your baby is laying sideways, nothing will be in your pelvis, no legs or head. Their limbs will lay across your belly, high, low, or right across, depending on how the baby is lying. The limbs might even be towards your back, which would make the baby seem less active. The bottom and baby’s head will still slide against the mother’s abdomen regularly, which will reassure their wellbeing.
Which Way Is Baby Facing?
Now that you have determined which direction your baby is, if they’re head down, now we can see if they’re occiput anterior or posterior!
Remember occiput anterior is their face towards your tailbone and this is optimal. If your baby is posterior, don’t worry! You can take a childbirth class to learn coping and relief for this! Plus, ways to help speed up a slow labor. I experienced this during my first childbirth, and I definitely wish I could have been prepared for those things!
If your baby is occiput posterior, you’ll feel a lot more movement in the middle of your belly rather than your ribs, and the sides will feel softer without knobs. And if you aren’t experiencing these things, then your baby is in an occiput anterior position!
Tips for Belly Mapping:
- Don’t do belly mapping during Braxton hicks.
- Don’t do this if your baby has just kicked because your uterus is more likely to contact after the kick, which will also make your belly feel a lot tighter.
I really hoped you enjoyed learning to belly map with me and if you have any questions, please leave them below!
You are encouraged, educated, and empowered. You got this, mama!
DISCLAIMER: This post is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding you or your baby’s health. Please read my Medical Disclaimer for more info
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