"back to bacK"

[moomin35]

Can anyone explain to me what this means? I keep hearing about babys being born back to back but not sure what it means?!

[Thurlow]

The best position is for the baby to be face down while your in labour, so it's face is looking at your back. Back to back means that the baby is facing up, so it's back is against your back, and it can make labour harder and more painful.

[MrsChickPea]

Back to back made my labour so painful I can't tell you! Had every drug going. Pain right up the bottom region. Sadly baby refused to come out back to back so ended up with emergency c-section (AFTER OVER 30 HOURS OF AGONY!). Be prepared to take lots of drugs - the epidural I eventually agreed to worked wonders - had it topped up 4 times!

[soontobeslendergirl]

I was same as chickpea, in the end baby was stuck fast as his head jammed becasue it wasn't in the normal postion. he was also 9lb 13 which didn't help. I also had Sacroiliac hip dysfunction which made it difficult to get in any positions that may have helped. 2nd baby was alos lying back to back so I had an elective section.

[Needadvice5]

I had an emergency section because my dd was back to back and completely stuck (sad)

[CPtart]

DS1 was back to back, the pain was awful, all in the base of my spine despite an epidural. Pushed for 2.5 hours and needed an episiotomy plus a second degree tear. Not pleasant but he was delivered safely.

[MrsChickPea]

Yes... carrying on... DS was well and truly stuck. They REALLY struggled to get him out during the c-section. They called the crash team apparently (I was drugged up to my eyeballs and no clue what was happening) as he was so stuck they feared for his life. Ended up with a t-section, a drip for a few days and a bag of blood draining out of my body from internal bleeding. DS was fine and perfect. DH almost collapsed after he was finally out in shock and relief. DS had cone shaped head for a few years. Funny, but I've never fancied another child. I really should have complained. I can sort of laugh about it now, but it really was all rather traumatic at the time.

[ROARmeow]

My DC2 was back to back. Gave birth after 8 hour labour (45 mins of pushing). Just had gas and air, and she weighed 9lb. To be honest I found her labour no harder than my facing-the-correct-way DC1.

I stood up for much of the labour which I think helped bring her down the birth canal. Midwives were well impressed with my stamina... but I think it was just my sheer bloody-mindedness to get her OUT!

[LosBreakingBad]

All three of my boys were back to back births. They weighed between 8lb and 9lb 12. They were long hard labours, the first one ended in a forceps delivery. I had epidurals for the other two.

I now have problems with my sacroiliac joints as a direct result.

Good luck, and get an epidural.

[BaldHedgehog]

Moomin, i don't know how far along are you and if the baby's head is engaged but if it's not you can try to turn it.

[Wolfiefan]

My DS was back to back. It took about an hour of full on pushing to shift him. The pain in my lower back was awful. (I had a water birth and insisted my DH poured water from a jug over my back WITHOUT STOPPING!!!!)
Needed no intervention and no other pain relief other than tens early on. Water and a few whiffs of g&a in pool.

[soontobeslendergirl]

Yes, first was well and truly stuck and my OH and the anaesthetist had to hold me down on the table while they tugged him back up :o

He had a slightly bruised ear but was otherwise perfect. I lost a litre of blood and was borderline for a transfusion.

My waters broke Sunday morning, had labour start in late afternoon, I went into hospital in active labour on the Monday morning, he was born on wednesday morinng - had epidural for last 6 hours while we waited for theatre. he was fine and slept most of time.

2nd was only 13 months later and I was given option of section as they weren't sure if the scar would survive another labour so soon - he was also back to back and expected to be another large baby. They were initially booking me in for after the due date to see how it goes, but midwife fudged the dates a bit and booked me in the week before. Consultant confirmed afterwards that the scar would have probably ruptured had i had a trial of labour as she intended.

[Isabelleforyourbicycle]

Just had a back to back baby, had to be helped out via forceps although apparently the doctor who delivered him (in labour room, not theatre) said he was nearly there but it was painful and hard to push. I've also torn badly but that can happen anyway with forceps delivery.
I did it with only gas and air, no one knew he was back to back till his head popped out! Too late for epidural. We are both fine.

[NickyEds]

My DS was back to back and labour was long and hard -but I have nothing else to compare it to as he's my first. I felt all of my (30 Hours) of contractions in my back and OH had to massage the small of my back very hard until he got cramp. My mw also thought he must have had his head at a funny angle because I went from 4 cm(where I'd been stuck for many many hours) to pushing very quickly so he must have just shifted enough to come out. I had gas and air then a half dose of diamorphine and the first words DS heard in the world were "I want an epidural!!" followed by bemused mw telling be it really was too late!

[MrsBungle]

My back to back labour was 52 hours - 1.5 of pushing and she eventually was turned and pulled out by forceps.

My second baby was not back to back - I had a 2 hour labour, pushed for 5 minutes and he popped out easily!

[ommmward]

Back-to-back labour feels completely different to the other kind - ALL the pain was across my back rather than there being anything across my belly.

I also stayed upright - standing or on hands and knees for the whole of labour - and, despite having been induced (which makes all the contractions more intense) only had gas and air until the pushing stage. It took half an hour or so of pushing, on hands and knees throughout.

No stitches, no instrumental delivery.

You really can have a pretty minimal intervention back labour if you surrender to it, stay active and upright, and don't try to escape the bloody intense sensations going on for hour after hour...

[MrsBungle]

Lol I "surrendered" to my back to back birth and had zero pain relief! Still required forceps! Dd became distressed and needed to come out immediately. Each birth is different. There's no right or wrong thing to do.

[ommmward]

Totally agreed - I just meant that knowing it's a back-to-back presentation doesn't mean one should immediately demand a C-section because "the whole thing is inevitably going to end that way" because it might not. And also it doesn't mean that one should immediately demand an epidural because everyone finds the pain unbearable - because not every back labour is unbearable for every woman.

I don't even know whether "right way round" is easier and quicker, or whether it's just that not-first babies are, in general, easier and quicker to get out (and my not-first labour experiences are "right way round" ones).

[soontobeslendergirl]

It's not always possible for a woman to choose a birth position that helps though. Because of the hip problems I had, I couldn't stand for long (by that point I was only able to walk with sticks), couldn't go on hands and knees - i told them i couldn't but they still made me try - it didn't work and I was screaming in agony from the pain in my hips and pelvis more than the labour pains in my back. :(

I don't think anyone was intending to "demand a C-section" but sometimes with a stuck fast baby and no other options it is "inevitable."

Surely what matters in the end is that mothers and babies are alive and well? It's not some kind of competition to see who could deliver the biggest most awkwardly presented baby with the least pain relief as far as I was aware but that is how it seems to some people.

[IsabellaRoarsome]

My ds was back to back (or what my midwife referred to as 'a star gazer') he was also my first baby which also played a big hand in my 22 hr labour! He was reeeeeeally hard to push out and swallowed a bit of meconium so had to have his airways cleared once he was out! But other then him taking longer and feeling the contractions mostly in my back there wasn't a lot of difference really between his birth and dd's (14hrs from first contraction but I slept through most of it! She was born within an hr of getting to the hospital with 3 pushes!) I only had gas & air with both of them ds was 8lb 5 and dd was 8lb 8

[guineapig1]

Back to back first baby here with the cord round his neck...ended up with a rotational forceps and episiotomy and epidural with 36 hour labour. But you know what... I'd do it all again tomorrow!

There is a website called spinning babies which is worth a look if you know in advance that baby is back to back. Mine was undiagnosed!!!

[violetlights]

Mine was back to back. The pain was horrific right from the beginning. He got stuck. I was pushing for 2 or 3 hours, contractions in the end continuous. The worse part was when I was rushed to emergency. With legs locked in stirrups, a doctor put her hands inside me and tried to turn him - with only g&a for pain relief. I cannot tell you the pain. Eventually two people pulled him out with ventouse creating a huge rip in his scalp. Been told by many it should have gone to ECS.

My brother recently told me about this awful toothache he'd had. He said "you've never felt pain like it!" I said "well..." And he said "oh I'm sorry I forgot your labour!" My mother at this point turned to me and said, "Violet, have you actually HAD bad toothache? It's worse than giving birth." I nearly cried on the spot.

[PenguinsHatchedAnEgg]

Moomin - Do you actually have a b2b baby? I'm a bit worried this thread might freak you out if so. I think at least 2 out of my 3 have been. First was tough and forceps, but I think that was partly it being my first and partly lack of knowledge on my part. If you think you are having a b2b, read about Spinning Babies on their website. I swear by mid-contraction inversions!

[Sunshine200]

I had a back to back birth, they didn't realise until last minute when they had to get me out of the pool as the baby wasn't coming. I just had to do it with gas & air and didn't have forceps or anything. Would have had an epidural if I'd known in advance as it was more painful than my first labour.

[TheWanderingUterus]

Just to add another experience, I have had two back to back labours, one of them as a home birth. My first was born in that position, my second turned at the last moment.

labour was long and slow at first (took 17 + hours to get to 6 centimetres) but I was able to manage on gas and air and didn't need any interventions. The pushing stage with both was five minutes and I had only small tears. The pain was only occasionally unmanageable, mostly when my son turned in my pelvis.

I think I was pretty lucky going on some of the stories above. I had a TENs machine which I responded well too, a long labour meant I had time to build up the endorphins and it provided counter pressure to the back pain. I also used lots of hypnobirthing and active birth techniques, but I don't know whether they helped or not.