'Back to back'/OP labour - just how bad IS it?

[Enid]

Come on I want to scare myself

fourth baby posterior,cheers! TENS TENS TENS !!!!!dont punch the midwife really,it was fine!TENS!!!

fourth baby posterior,cheers! TENS TENS TENS !!!!!dont punch the midwife really,it was fine!TENS!!!

Enid my ds was op and I was having contractions for 2 days, kept going back to the hospital cause thought I must be getting more dilated, but they just kept sending me home again, so if I was you I would opt for a home birth anyway.

My contractions from what I remember were bearable it was just so frustrating to not have been dilating. Ds was op and also had his head looking in the wrong position.

Am pregnant now with second baby going to do all the hands and knees business from about 36 weeks to try and insure the best position.

I wish you luck with you homebirth, have faith in yourself and your body.

I trust you're getting some much-needed sleep now Enid, but in case you're not, these are my POP tales. First baby was POP, horrible labour/birth, prefer to draw a veil over it! Dd2, No4, was also POP. But this time I don't think it made much, if any, difference to the labour, which was about 10 hrs. I walked about a lot and dd was born while I was kneeling over the bedhead thingy. I just had some G&A, which doesn't actually do anything for me but dh likes it because it prevents me from biting him.

Hope all goes well for you - any chance of you having the baby before 21st April, which is when I shall be exiled to The Land of No Internet again??

Hi Enid, all of mine were back to back and agree with the advice about not staying on your back.

With DD (no 3) I used an exercise ball and it really helped to sit on that and rock from side to side.

With DS2 (no 2) I walked about a lot and also leant over the headboard. Spent most of the time laughing during labour...but that could've been the gas and air

All the best, stay positive and hope it all goes well for you

my one and only was back to back at the start of established labour, but it really wasn't that bad. Had a very tedious afternoon and night of prelabour, but the main problems I had were down to the diamorphine rather than the position.

Enid, I did a feature on this quite recently. CAT me if you want to see it and I'll email it to you.

Enid, hope you have had some re-assurance from some of the posts here. I'm sure mine was so extremely bad partly (mainly?) cos it was my first.

I definitely agree with those that say being on your back will probably be horrible - the bleedin' midwives tried to get me to have a bath at one stage but lying down was just excrutiatingly horrible.

Upright was the only way I could bear to be, walking or sitting very upright.

Enid, my dd was op presentation so don't know how it compares to 'normal' labour, but go for the home birth as you can transfer to hospital if you need to. I coped MUCH better at home with a hot water bottle pressed to my back. Only went to hospital as I started bleeding and they took my hot water bottle away and my contractions which were really regular at home became irregular. The midwife said op labour lasts much longer so opted for an epidural (which wasn't even effective on the back pain) and had to have a forceps delivery as she didn't fully rotate (probably the epidural didn't help!). I think I read somewhere on this conversation that this isn't your first so I'm sure you'll handle things much better. Don't panic, keep an open mind and I'm sure you'll do just fine :)

Both of mine were OP. My labour with DD was very long but the pain wasn't all that bad. I finally arrived at hospital 8cm dilated having had paracetamol and DH rubbing my back whilst I leaned over the beanbag. She turned apparently but had her head flexed and got stuck so I ended up with a section. But it really wasn't the pain that got me that time, more the tiredness as I had 4 days of contractions.

DS spent all of my pregnancy in a good position then turned OP just as I went into labour with him. That was more painful but I am sure it was to do with me not being very committed to a natural delivery and he ended up as a section anyway. But honestly the pain first time round was much better than I expected.