molding

molding /mold·ing/ (mōld´ing) the adjusting of the shape and size of the fetal head to the birth canal during labor.

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molding

[mōl′ding]

Etymology: ME, moulde, shaping

the natural process by which a baby's head is shaped during labor as it is squeezed into and through the birth passage by the forces of labor. The head often becomes quite elongated, and the bones of the skull may be caused to overlap slightly at the suture lines. The biparietal diameter of the head may be compressed as much as 0.5 cm without intracranial damage. Most of the changes caused by molding resolve themselves during the first few days of life. Compare caput succedaneum. See also cephalhematoma.

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molding,

n shaping.

molding, border,

n See border molding.

molding, compression,

n the act of pressing or squeezing together to form a shape in a mold.

molding, injection,

n the adaptation of a plastic material to the negative form of a closed mold by forcing the material into the mold through appropriate gateways. See also molding, compression.

molding, tissue,

n See border molding.

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molding

Obstetrics The changes that the fetus's skull–which has a rigid face and base and a mobile cranial vault–undergoes to slide through the birth canal