How will my caregiver know?
How will it affect my labour?
Baby after the birth
What is a brow presentation?
The medical term 'presentation' refers to the part of the baby that leads the way down the woman's birth canal. In most cases, the crown of the baby's head leads the way, often referred to as a 'vertex presentation'. A vertex presentation is when the baby's head is 'flexed', meaning their chin is resting on their chest, and the baby is looking down towards their own body.
Rarely, (about 1 in every 2000 births, or 0.05%) the baby's head extends back. so that their forehead leads the way. This is called a 'brow presentation'. A brow presentation tends to be more common for women having their second, or subsequent baby, and is usually something that occurs by chance. In rare cases, it may be due to the baby having an abnormality of their spine, affecting the position of the baby's head.
Image 5-29 shows a baby presenting in a brow position.
How will my caregiver know?
The baby being in a brow presentation is usually not detected until the labour. Many baby's that start off in labour as a brow presentation, will change to either a
vertex presentation (crown first) or less commonly, a
face presentation (face first), as the contractions of the uterus put pressure on the baby to tuck their head in, or occasionally extend their head further back, so that the baby's face leads the way.
Occasionally, a baby will be detected as a brow position before the birth. This is not easy, but is possible if the caregiver thinks the shape of the woman's belly feels a little unusual and / or her baby's head feels very 'high' (or '
unengaged'), at a routine pregnancy visit in the last 3 weeks of her pregnancy. (While it is easy to feel an unengaged head, it can be quite difficult to detect that it is actually a brow presentation). If your caregiver is concerned, they may order an ultrasound to confirm what they are suspecting.