A transverse lie position is when your baby lies horizontally in your uterus. This means the baby’s head can be on one side of the mother’s body and the feet on the other side instead of the head in an up or down position. As the pregnancy advances, the baby grows and moves in the womb. Towards the end of pregnancy, most babies move to a head-down position, and this is helpful in normal vaginal delivery. Less commonly, some babies may not take up common positions and require cesarean sections to deliver them. Read about the causes, types, risks, and other factors related to the transverse lie position.
What Is A Transverse Baby Or Transverse Lie?
When the baby lies horizontally in the uterus, instead of an ideal vertical or head-down position, it is called a transverse or longitudinal lie. In simple terms, it can be said that the baby is lying sideways, with its head either on the left or right side of the uterus. It is rare and could occur in one among 300 pregnancy cases (1). The position is normal during the initial stages of pregnancy or till 26 weeks. However, it could be considered abnormal when the due date is nearing. With the baby in such a position, it is not possible to go for a normal delivery. The baby may come to the sideways position due to different reasons.
What Are The Causes Of Transverse Baby Position?
Usually, a transverse baby at 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy, settles down in one position during this time. In some cases, babies could naturally come to the transverse lie position. In other cases, the reasons could be: The doctor or midwife would assess your baby’s position with proper diagnosis.
How Is The Diagnosis Done?
Early diagnosis through abdominal and vaginal examination could determine the position of the baby. The abdominal examination can suspect fetal transverse lie when (6): Vaginal examination in early and late stages of pregnancy, through the cervix, could also confirm the fetal transverse position. The ultrasound also confirms the same. The exact transverse lie position of the fetus can be determined through shoulder presentations.
What Are The Transverse Lie Positions?
There are four shoulder presentations of transverse lie (7): As the transverse baby bump position is not considered normal, there could be certain risks when delivering the baby.
What Are The Risks For The Baby In Transverse Lie?
It is not possible for a natural or vaginal delivery when the baby is in a transverse lie. Hence, in every case of a transverse baby, when to schedule C-section would be a major question to answer. Along with that, there could be other risks too. To keep away the risks associated with the transverse lie position of the fetus, doctors could try to turn the baby to a different and safe position.
How To Turn A Baby From Transverse Lie?
If the transverse position has been detected in the early stages or before the baby has settled down, there are some ways through which the baby can be turned. However, these are performed only on the doctor’s advice, based on your medical condition. Some common questions regarding transverse lie are answered in the next section.
Frequently Answered Questions
1. What happens if the baby cannot be turned?
If the professionals and doctors are not able to turn the transverse position of the baby to a head down position, they will go with a cesarean, which can safely bring out the baby into the world.
2. What happens if I am having twins?
In case the first twin is lying in a transverse position, doctors usually perform a c-section. However, if the first twin is delivered normally, then the second twin might come to a transverse position. In this case, doctors try to turn the second baby through internal cephalic version (manual intrauterine procedure to change transverse lie to breech) or external cephalic version and then decide whether or not to schedule c-section (4).
3. How long can a baby stay in the transverse lie position?
Most of the babies settle down in a normal position or the head-down position by the end of the second trimester or beginning of the third trimester. It is usually between 28 to 30 weeks. However, some babies also move around after the beginning of the third trimester, and tend to take the normal position by the 31st or 34th week. If they do not come to a normal position, they can stay transverse up to the last stage too.
