Back to back birth?

[nataliekristin]

hi all

this is my 1st pregnancy and at my 20 week scan last week I was told I have an anterior placenta (not low lying, though). They said this increases the chances of having a back to back labour, which I've read isn't ideal.

has anyone experienced back to back labour? are there increased risks to you or baby?

thanks

2 back to back labours here!as far as I'm aware, no increased risk.they do say its much more painful than regular although I have nothing to compare it to so couldn't really tell you ! UL be great x

I had a back to back labour (1st baby) and it was fine, though I did need ventouse in the end. It wasn't particularly painful or long (as some people find) but I did get the urge to push very early on, which is common. In the event, it was rather lovely to look down between my legs and see DS's face looking up at me! Motivated me for the final push.

Ds1 was back to back, also had anterior placenta.
7 hours, pool birth. Hurt like hell but absolutely no different to ds2's birth 17 months later, who wasn't back to back.

Oh pants I didn't know that, I had a back to back labour with dd1 and had a very rough time, I'm now pregnant with dd2 and have an anterior placenta.

On the plus side it is true that you really do forget it once they are here and epidurals are great! I lasted 26 hours without one and plan to have one much earlier this time, the contractions still hurt but they were manageable and not toe curling and I didn't feel the crowning at all.

Have a look a the website Spinning Babies which has lots of ideas for improving foetal positioning.
I had anterior placenta with dd but her position was fine and she arrived in 80 mins

I had a back to back labour recently. First baby so nothing to compare it to but the pain was all in my back and worsened if I sat/ lay down so spent around 12 hours standing up. I managed this on only g&a though and I'm a self confessed wimp.

Because of my baby's position, despite having decent contractions I wasn't dilating so was put on syntocin drip and had an epidural at this point (would highly recommend!!). After another 12 hours I'd only made it to 5cm so ended up having a section. Good news was, my baby was completely happy throughout and wasn't in any distress so the section was a fairly relaxed affair :)

The experience sounds worse than it was- I felt completely relaxed throughout the whole thing (apart from a brief wobble when they first told me I'd be going to theatre)

I had an anterior placenta too, although at every midwife appointment and right up to labour my baby was in a more favourable position, with his back either at the front or to one side, so hopefully yours works the other way and is back to back now but turns in time for labour :)

My DS was back to back and it hurt!....But I've nothing to compare it to. All of my contractions were in the base of my back so the birthing ball became an instrument of torture. My waters broke first but I went into labour more or less straight away but after 24 hours, like pp said , I was having lots of regular contractions but not dilating so had to have the drip. My mw just kept saying that he was in a difficult position but if he would just look down I'd move on very quickly. 5 Hours after having the drip out he popped (well, rushed-all in one!) and I found, like pp that I had no idea what was contraction and what wasn't ,just constant pain.
TBH I think it was the drip itself rather than just his position that made it painful so I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that it will be worse back to back. I'm not sure that there's any additional risks , maybe an increased chance of instrumental delivery???? There's no reason to think you won't have a lovely birth so try not to worry! I described my birth as "horrendous" and after a couple of months I wanted another

May first was a back to back and the pain in the back was really tough to handle. But as I didn't have anything to compare I thought it was normal.

Second labour wasn't and no back pain to all so it was much easier to cope.

I also didn't dilate very fast, but then I went from 5cms to 9cms very quickly! What I would say is my daughter was the right way round at all appts, and was then back to back for labour, so I assume they can turn the other way at last minute too :)

Similar to sorehead- back to back and induced ending in section. I had read it was more painful but had nothing to compare it to and it was actually okay- lots of pressure in the back but manageable. I got a shot of pethidine when things started ramping up (amazing) and then epidural (aaaaaaamaaaaaazzzing) before syntocinon drip.

Ultimately CS but I sort of knew that might happen as I'm v small, similar build to my mum who also had all sections etc. But that was very chilled too. All in all a surprisingly positive experience.

Oh, and I came across the term "star gazer" for a back to back baby on here which I just loved .

Both mine were back to back. DD didn't turn and I pushed for 1.5 hours, my back was agony but DH spent the entire labour massaging it between contractions (with moisturiser eventually when he realised his hand was raw!) as that was when it was most painful.

DS was also B2B but turned at the last minute. It was a much quicker birth anyway, 4cm dilated to baby in 1.5 hours

So don't panic, it might still turn yet but if not have someone massage your lower back or ask for a heatpack.

Good luck!

Someone up thread mentioned a site about helping the baby move position. Well worth a look.

When I was pregnant in the third trimester. I was advised to never sit on my sofa lounging back, to sit straight, sleep on a certain side (sorry cannot remember which side) and to spend 20 mins a day on my hands and knees. These all help persuade the baby to turn. I was told these things from an active birth midwife. You have nothing to loose so worth giving them ago

I had anterior placenta and DD was right way up not back to back. Got anterior again this time so we shall see.

As Tomuch says, it seems the key to getting them to turn and stay in right way up position is leaning forward instead of leaning back. If you have a desk job, try to lean forward on your elbows rather than leaning back. If you are watching tv try to sit up straight or slightly forward - a birthing ball will make you do this - rather than slouching back. Walking a lot, with good posture, also helps.

The theory is that the baby's back and bum are heaviest, so if you spend a lot of time leaning backwards, these heaviest bits will be pulled towards your spine by gravity, and voila you end up back to back. Whereas if you lean forward, these bits get pulled towards your tummy.

Evolution wise it's not that long since we walked on all fours or leaning forward like gorillas, and so our bodies were designed to work best (including birth mechanics) if we spent lots of time in that position. So hence why spending time leaning forward leads to the best position for birth.

I have heard posterior labours are more painful - apparently people feel the pain more in their back and hips and it can be a sharper pain as there is more pressure on the nerve endings.

I had B2B with DD. I failed to progress even with the synto drip and ended in EMCS after a 43 hour labour. I think my brain has blanked it all out as I cant actually remember what the pain was like/where it was (back or front)/ what was a contraction and what wasn't. I was off my head on pethidine and G&A for most of it and hallucinating saying the most random things that even I thought hang on a minute that makes absolutely no sense at all. What am I talking about? Something on the lines of "you can put that in the garage", DH "put what in the garage?" "THAT! (feeling very irritated at not being understood)The aston martin" pointing to a chair, DH "thats a chair", me "oh yeah, it doesn't matter, forget it". We don't have an aston martin, nor are we ever likely to have one, so god knows where that came from, random! Anyway I digress.

I was reading that with a B2B baby you should not lounge on the sofa and should sit with your knees below your hips. Your uterus acts like a hammock in your pelvis so if you lie back it encourages the baby to get into a comfy position and lie back in its hammock. As pp said a certain way of lying in bed is recommended to help turn them- its the left side.

Oh I forgot to add, I remember pushing way too early. I had an overwhelming urge to push at around 7-8 cms and they were all shouting at me telling me to stop pushing. I felt as though nobody believed me and I was pushing for the sheer hell of it so was relieved to read that B2B makes you feel like pushing early. I felt like it was just me too desperate to get the baby out after a stop/ start labour spanning 3 days and 3 nights of no sleep. Glad its not just me but I only just found this out recently and I had DD 2.5 yrs ago. I said in my pp that I couldn't remember what the pain was like, I cant, but I know it bloody hurt!

I didn’t have an anterior placenta but I did have a back to back labour with my first baby. I had nothing to compare it to so I just thought I was really bad at labour but it was very painful, very quickly. I also had no idea that he was in that position, if I had known I would have tried to shift him I think! I only found out he was a star gazer at about 13 hours into labour.

I had a labour debrief a couple of months ago and she said the early labour I had was classic presentation for a back to back baby – waters went straight away, contractions started hard and were really painful straight away, plus really close together (like 2 mins apart) straight away and loads of pain in my back. Also wanting to push FAR too early because of the pressure in my bum/back.

She also said that due to my baby’s position my contractions weren’t doing what they should which meant slow progress/dilation. I was 5cms after 16 hours of constant pain/contractions and the epidural didn’t work (that’s ANOTHER story) and my baby’s heart rate wasn’t too happy so they did an EMCS with a spinal. That spinal block was the most blessed relief I think I’ve ever had.

OP I've not yet given birth but I am doing an active labour class where we practice postures in case the baby is back to back.

One is the cobra stretch, look it up online. Apparently that can really help. Good luck!

I have an anterior placenta but have been doing the daily activities on spinning babies and looks like baby is in the right position.

The other thing to look into is pain relief options. In australia they use sterile water injections for back to back water It might be worth seeing if you can get them as I understand they are really useful for back to back labour.

Both of mine went back to back in labour despite being anterior beforehand. First labour was long and ended in ventouse. Second labour was much better but I had lots of pain in my tailbone. I found kneeling on all fours or standing up and bouncing helped me get through contractions. DD was born facing up so she never did turn.

I had a b2b, bounced on birthing ball for hours in labour and baby turned. I had read spinning babies website I also hypnobirthed. No intervention needed, just a birthing pool and gas and air. I found my hips being squeezed helped, counteracted the pressure.

Both of my babies were back to back.....and both of them were well and truly stuck! I was minutes away from a CS with both of them but they were eventually extracted by vontouse (DD1) and forceps (DD2). I had an epidural and I'm glad I did as there was a lot of yanking going on.

I went in to it with an open mind - that I would have any pain relief I needed. I won't go into details but absolutely everything that could have gone wrong went wrong at both my births. However, I don't feel a bit traumatised at all and could do it all again tomorrow. I was treated very well and everything was explained to me all the way through.

Please don't worry x

All four of mine were back to back, one came out still back to back - and her labour and delivery was by far the easiest. All four births were all very different from one another as is obvious from all the stories here. Try not to worry to much about it.

DD was back to back. The first part of the labour (15 hours or so contracting at home) wasn't too bad at all. As the pain got worse, we phoned the hospital, but they said not to come in until I was contracting 3 times in 10 minutes. That never actually happened- in the end we insisted on going in to get checked out, I was 5cm and contracting every 7 minutes.

I never progressed- I was on the drip for the whole night, couldn't stop myself from pushing, so poor DD kept getting squashed, and I never got past 5cm. I ended up having an EMCS about 12 hours after we got to hospital.

I think I made it worse for myself by being adamant that I didn't want pain relief- when I eventually had an epidural, it was bliss!