Find the top of the womb.
Check the baby
womb
Walk your fingers up
the side of the belly.
Find the top of the womb
(it feels like a hard ball
under the skin).
You can feel the top by
curving into the belly.
T o me asure using the fi nge r me tho d
1. If the top of the womb is below
the bellybutton, measure how
many fingers below the
bellybutton it is. If the top of the
womb is above the bellybutton,
measure how many fingers above
the bellybutton it is.
Then see how many months
pregnant the woman is now
by comparing the number of
fingers with this picture (each line
is about the width of 2 fingers).
81/2–9 months
9 MONTHS! 71/2–8 months
61/2–7 months
51/2–6 months
41/2–5 months
31/2–4 months
21/2–3 months
2. Write down what you find, with a picture or with numbers.
To draw a picture: Make a circle for the mother’s belly, a dot for her
bellybutton, and a curved line for the top of the womb. Then draw the
number of fingers the top of the womb is above or below the bellybutton.
For example:
This drawing
means that the
top of the womb
is 2 fingers below
the bellybutton.
bellybutton
top of
the
womb
This drawing means
that the top of the
womb is 3 fingers
above the
bellybutton.
This woman is about 41/2 months pregnant. This woman is about 61/2 months pregnant.
To use numbers: Write down the number of fingers you used to measure
the womb. Put a “+” sign in front of the number if the top of the womb is
above the bellybutton. Put a ”–” sign in front of the number if the top of the
womb is below the bellybutton. The example above on the left would be – 2.
The one on the right would be +3.
A Book for Midwives (2010)
131