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Malposition (Pregnancy & More)
Malposition refers to a faulty, wrong, or abnormal
position or placement of a body part or organ. The term
is sometimes used to refer to the improper position of
the vertex (top) of the fetus’s head during pregnancy in
reference to the position of the mother’s pelvis. A fetus
is a developing human inside the mother from the end of
the 8th week to birth. The normal position of the fetus
for vaginal delivery is known as the cephalic position in
which the fetus lies with its head down (towards the
vagina) with the buttocks up.
The most common malposition (sometimes referred to
as a malpresentation) during pregnancy is the breech
position, in which the legs or buttock(s) are positioned
to come out first during delivery instead of the head.
Pregnancy malpositions.
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Another birth malposition is the transverse lie, in which the fetus is lying sideways. In
some malpositions, the fetus comes out head first but is positioned improperly. A
common situation is when the back part of the head (occiput) rotates towards the back
rather than towards the front. In some cases, the head fails to rotate and is in a
sideways position (known as the occipito-transverse position). A face presentation is
when the face of the head emerges first. The brow position is when the fetus is
positioned with the brow down in the mother’s pelvis. In the shoulder position, the baby
presents with one shoulder in the mother’s pelvis.
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Sometimes, malpositions involve the uterus and not the fetus. A
good example would be a retroverted uterus, in which the uterus is
tilted backwards instead of forwards (normal position). The uterus is
a hollow organ in a female's body where the egg is implanted and
the baby to be develops. Other body parts can also be
malpositioned. For examples, breasts have been malpositioned as a
result of surgical procedures. Teeth can be malpositioned, requiring
braces. Various joints in the body can also be malpositioned. A joint
is a place where two bones contact each other. Malposition is also
known as allotopia and dystopia. Malposition comes from the Latin
word "malus" meaning "bad," and the Latin word "positio" meaning "a
placing." Put the two words together and you have "a placing bad."
