occiput posterior/back to back/sunny side up... face up baby! any advice/stories welcomed...

[brightonbleach]

hi everyone hope all is well with you all.

Just been to obstetrician appointment yesterday, having fortnightly scans due to diabetes, am 33+4 & baby is back to back - head down but facing up and out! Wondering what this means for delivery?? its my first baby. obviously I know he COULD possibly move between now and 38 weeks when I am being induced! but just supposing he doesn't (and any suggestions on how to swing him round very welcome), am not sure how difficult or impossible it will make birthing the little bugger He was extended breech 5 weeks back though, so I suppose he IS getting nearer to a better position!

Just interested in any advice or experiences on OP, having not had a baby before and all these things are new to me.

thanks!

[SoupDragon]

Get yourself down on your hands and knees/leaning forward as much as you can! So your stomach is like a hammock for the baby - this will encourage him to shift round.

[flimflammum]

I'm not an expert but spinning babies is the website (don't be put off by the funny name!), lots of advice on how to get him to move round. You still have time.

[brightonbleach]

righto,am going on all fours right now... urk! How will I get back up

[Tamlin]

I had an OP baby who only shifted after twenty hours of back labour (when I got a midwife who actually bothered to feel my bump, and ascertain his position)! What helped him move - being upright and leaning forward in the birthing pool. What DIDN'T help - lying down flat on my back on the hospital bed. In labour, stay upright, keep moving, try to lean forward; before labour, don't recline on the couch or at your desk, and try to watch TV kneeling forward over a beanbag or birthing ball.

Most posterior babies do turn around in order to be born, but they estimate that they can add 6-8 hours on to the average labour time!

[plimple]

Scrub the floors!
Mine was back to back last time, prepare for a knackering labour as a lot of contractions are to move the baby round. Do what you can, but if still back to back for birth it's not the end of the world, just rest up and it'll be alright in the end.

[rubyslippers]

i had an OP baby first time round

had a very sloooooow labour to start - 2 days of contractions every 15 mins

active labour of 10 hours

delivered him star gazing - awkward bugger!

can only second all the advice re trying to move him from the PPs

Am now 37 + 2 with DC2 who is breech

[thisisyesterday]

well ds2was back to back. did lots of ofp but nothing shifted him

labour was 6 hours start to finish, it was hard work and i pushed for 1.5 hours before i msanaged to get himout, but it really was fine

felt contractions really badly in my back which is apparently quite common.
he had a crmpled and very bruised forehead when he came out as hge was still op. some babies turn in labour tho

[pooexplosions]

I had 2 op babies that stayed that way right through birth. Stubborn buggers (and at 5 and 2 they still are). First was a long drawn out labour whcih ended with a ventouse, second was a short fast labour which also ended in a ventouse. Both were bloody painful but I hae nothing to compare them to.
Very much hoping that this one due in 4 weeks is facing the right way, but not holding my breath. Advice is no reclining on your back, lots of floor scrubbing positions (without actually cleaning anything for me )

You have loads of time left though, they can spin around a lot after 33 weeks, right up til the last minute. Most will be the right way in the end.

[blinder]

apparently 80% of babies that begin labour OP turn before thy are born.

And at 33 weeks your baby will still be moving all over the place. 50 % of babies are OP at that term.

Dont worry about it .

[weegiemum]

My dd1, first baby, was anterior when I went into labour and turned as it progressed so that by birth she was OP.

It was very painful - I had 3 doses of diamorph and lots of gas and air, and needed augmentation for a while, along with a ventouse delivery. I was in labour for 37 hours!

One midwife made it so much more bearable by referring to her as a "stargazer" baby - born looking up! I liked that.

I did a lot of labour on my hands and knees and over the birthing ball.

The biggest issue I had was that as her head wasn't making any proper contact with the cervix, I had no real urge to push. They kept saying "push" and I thought I was, but it was ineffective a lot of the time. It wasn't until I had ds 2 years later and they were telling me to stop pushing that I realised that it is a real biological urge, not just something you choose to do.

I know things were harder with my dd1 as she was very big - 9lb12oz - but the positioning didn't help.

Don't think I'm being very helpful here! But it is not impossible to have a vaginal delivery with a large OP baby, and if he/she is still moving around, you have a real chance to get him/her in a good position by 38 weeks.

Both my others were anterior and little bother!

[Rindercella]

BrightonBleach...get back on all fours now

Seriously, when I was told that my baby was OP when I was about 37 weeks, I crawled everywhere I could. Seemed to work as I had a pretty bloody easy labour and she was born the right side up (and was 9lb 9oz)!

Good luck

[Deemented]

DD was OP - after an eight hour labour and pushing for just over an hour, she was born. Like previous poster, i felt the pain mostly in my back and also in the bend where my leg joins my hip, iyswim. Didn't help that they insisted on putting a probe on dd's head so wasn't allowed to get off the bed and move around - ended up giving birth on my back - soooo not comfortable!!!

[Deemented]

Oh and DD was 10lb 2oz!!!

[Tamlin]

Weegiemum, that's interesting about the pushing - I never had any urge to push with DS at all.

[brightonbleach]

wow thanks everyone I will spend the next fortnight (till my next scan!) on my hands and knees somehow then... I have a birthing ball as well & will lean over it - don't think I've spent much time on my back (!), but maybe reclining on sofa watching crap movies is out now!! judging from your tales I def will be wishing for him to shift around - plenty of time really, eh...

thanks loads for advice and sharing, y'all are stars.

[e3chick]

Both of mine have become op during labour and turned, eventually, to come out the right way. My labour was not a painful back-labour, and each was maximum 7 hours long. I think the 2nd stage was delayed and longer as a result of me having to turn the babes before they came out, but still 7 hours isn't too bad and as I said I experienced no extra pain as a result.

[PfftTheMagicDragon]

DD was OP up until about 10 minutes before I started pushing. She was my second though.

[Joeymac]

Suspected DS1 OP and never formally found out until seeing consultant over how to deliver DS2. DS1 labour had lasted 50 hours and only got to 4cm and then ended up with emergency section. Spent alot of that labour lying down on request of midwives but when it's your first you kind of just do what they tell you cos you don't know any better.

Went for VBAC with DS2 and he came in just 7 hours - what a difference the labour was. Spent all labour on knees with arms over bed and rolling my hips - midwife thought I was mad and kept telling me to lie down but that wasn't happening after the last time.

Pre birth spent alot of time watching TV on birthing ball and on hands and knees. At work sat on a cushion and also in car to make sure my knees were never higher than my hips and I was always tilted slightly forward. Think I started all of this in ernest at about 35 weeks so you have loads of time to turn him.