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03/10/2017
A baby's head usually only needs to engage with a first full-term pregnancy. It rarely engages in second or subsequent pregnancies.
The term 'dropped' has no true meaning in the way it is commonly used to refer to a baby's position. The baby's head normally engages two weeks before spontaneous labour. Most commonly the head engages at 38-39 weeks gestation.
Most women can't reliably predict if the head has engaged, but if they do, it is usually felt as a greater gap in the upper abdomen and less pressure under the diaphragm. The sensation of greater pressure in the pelvis is commonly felt towards term but is certainly not a reliable predictor of engagement.
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