Today we're going to talk about fetal station. Fetal station is where the baby's presenting part is located in the pelvis. The presenting part is the part of the baby's body that is closest to the exit route aka the uterus.
So this could be the head which is most commonly seen. It could be the buttocks or the shoulder. Some things you want to know about fetal station is That fetal station is measured in centimeters.
You must know the location of the ischial spine in order to determine the fetal station. You also need to be able to interpret the positive and negative numbers. Let's dive deeper into all these. Okay, so you want to start off by finding the ischial spine.
You have your left ischial spine and your right ischial spine. And if you draw a line in between these two, you get... fetal station zero. So anything above fetal station zero is going to be negative numbers. So right above zero, you have negative one, negative two, negative three, negative four, and negative five.
So negative one means that you are one centimeter above the ischial spine. Negative two means that you are two centimeters above the ischial spine and so on. Okay, let's talk about fetal station zero a little bit more. What was that landmark called at fetal station zero? The ischial spine.
You must remember this in order to understand fetal station. When the baby's presenting part, most commonly the head, is at fetal station zero, aka the ischial spine, we call this the baby is engaged. So what happens if the baby falls below the ischial spine? We count this in positive numbers.
So you have plus one, plus two, plus three, plus four, and plus five. So positive one means you are one centimeter below the ischial spine. Positive two means you are two centimeters below the ischial spine, and so on.
Plus two is typically when the mother starts pushing the baby out. Plus four and plus five means birth is imminent, meaning the baby is on the exit route out. Birth is about to happen and the baby is most likely crowning. This is a memory trick to help you remember the positive and negative numbers. So if you see positive numbers, you're getting closer to the exit.
I like to think of this as the mom saying, I am positive I am getting this baby out today. And if the baby is in negative numbers, it's a negative thing because the baby is not ready to exit and be pushed out. And the mom is sad and exhausted and ready to get the baby out.
Okay, let's do a quick pop quiz. When the baby's presenting part is at the ischial spine, they are at blank centimeters. Zero. Remember, the ischial spine is at fetal station zero.
We call this the baby is engaged. When the baby's presenting part, most commonly the head, is at the ischial spine, we say the baby is engaged. Okay, what is the fetal station of the letter A?
Well, first thing you need to do is find your ischial spine and count. So it's plus one, plus two, plus three, and plus four below the ischial spine, which makes it positive four. This means the presenting part is four centimeters below the ischial spine. That's all for fetal station.
If you want more information like this, you can find it in the complete mother-baby flashcards. It covers everything you need to know in your mother-baby class. But it's presented in a fun and a condensed way. No more textbook fluff.
Happy studying future nurses!