A 'compound presentation' is the medical term when the baby's hand and arm (or on rare occasions a foot) comes down to lie alongside the baby's head during the pushing phase so that they are born at the same time. (If your baby liked to suck their thumb in the uterus, then they may keep this habit up until they are born and probably after!)
The main concern with this is that more of the baby will need to be born at the same time, therefore, the potential for the woman to tear is greater. On rare occasions, the baby's arm or hand can be bruised or injured (either from the pressure of the woman's bony pelvis as the hand came down the birth canal and / or the handling of the baby's arm by the caregiver during the birth).
If your caregiver sees fingers presenting with the baby's emerging head, the most common approach is to let the hand stay there, but to hold it in place, and to control the birth of the arm and elbow with the head, so that the elbow does not 'flick out' when released. Some caregivers may try to hold the hand back (or it has been known for a caregiver to gently pinch the baby's hand in an attempt to make the baby pull their hand back!)
Usually the caregiver will guide the baby's head and gently grasp the hand, extending their whole arm out, so that the baby's shoulders can be born. After this, the rest of the baby's body will normally follow. This technique is easier if the birth is slow and controlled, but may be more difficult to achieve if the baby is born rapidly.
Fetal distress
'Fetal distress' is the medical term given to when the baby displays signs that they may not be coping before they are born. In the 2nd stage of the labour this can be due to a wide range of reasons and detected by: