Posterior baby..??

[Leilababyno1]

Just had my 38+3 wk MW appointment today and she thinks that my baby is not completely back to back but almost, told me to do some forward lunges on the birth ball, to get baby into an anterior positon. She said that if I go into labour whilst baby is in this position, it will make things very difficult for me! Great!

....She is already almost fully engaged, so what chance do I have of shifting her position at this late stage and does anyone have any experience of labour starting with baby in a posterior position, and it turning out ok?

Up til recently she was breech, feeling like it's just one thing after another- I have already looked at The Spinning Baby website, but nearly all their exercise techniques are for during labour only..

Wished the MW hadn't bothered telling me as I feel there is not much I can do to at this stage to guarantee a move to a more optimal postion.

Any advice most appreciated...

Hang out in all fours, doing yoga cat stretches. Try not to lean back for long periods e.g on sofa. Keep upright.

My DS flipped during labour when I leant against back of bed. He was #2.

Thank's, I will try some of those stretches.

Won't worry about it too much though, if yours flipped during labour...just don't want a prolonged, more painful labour because of it!

OP, your MW is right to tell you your baby is posterior, but it's not helpful to just say 'ooh, hope it turns otherwise you are in for a hard time!' and not to offer any useful tips. Not every posterior labour is very difficult, not every correctly positioned baby is easier. But it is a fact that posterior babies are generally more difficult. I have a tendency toward posterior babies - the first was posterior and from that position managed to get herself into a position from which she could not be born. The second was not too helpful but I spent a lot more time doing OFP and things were much easier.

I would take another look at the Spinning Babies website - it has a lot of things that can be done in pregnancy. Get going now, you might not have much time, but there is stuff you can be doing! Also pay a visit to a cranial osteopath. Some people think it's bunkum, but I believe it helps a lot - I had cranial osteo every week in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy second time. The main thing though is try and find someone who knows how to use a rebozo properly. They are very useful things!

many OP babys turn during labour, so i wouldn't worry too much (tho the spinning baby website exercises are probably worth doing)

my second baby was OP. I had a 6 hour labour at home,he didn't turn and I had 1.5 hrs pushing (so prob would have been shorter had he been the right way round)
but it was my best birth out of all 3! would happily do it again

do the exercises on the spinning babies website and spend lots of time on all 4s and as little as poss on the sofa.

but don't worry too much if lo doesn't shift - DD2 was posterior all the way out - born facing up, she was 10lb3oz, 11 days overdue and born with no interventions at all in 4 hours from the first contraction.

don't get hung up on horror stories!

also, try and stay upright and active during labour. I gave birth kneeling up over the sofa and the midwife said afterwards that it was a good position given that the baby was OP

Thank's everyone. I will definitely get going on some regular all fours/inversions until d day...MW did say that baby isn't completely back to back, more in a lateral posterior position- but still not ideal.

Won't stress about it though, spent too long stressing about her being breech up til a a couple of wks ago and it's simply not worth it. Who knows what will happen once labour gets going!

Posted on your other thread.
S x