Back to back baby

[MrsL0805]

Hi everyone,

Currently 37 weeks pregnant and my midwife said to me yesterday that my baby has now moved to a back to back position. He's been head down since around 32 weeks and in the correct position however now he's decided to move!

Just wondering if anyone had any experience of a back to back birth ? I have read up that it may take longer for labour to start naturally and the birth itself can be more painful.

any tips and experiences would be grateful, thanks

Have a look at Spinning Babies if you haven't already.

There is time for him to move though, my daughter was back to back at 36+6 (last scan) and was OA by the time I went into labour at 39 weeks exactly.

My DD was back to back. Unfortunately for me it meant that as I wasn't dilating fully and she would've come out forehead first a c section was needed.
I dread to think about the tearing it i hadn't had one!

When I was in labour with 'dd' it was back to back. Not pleasant and heart rate became a worry, I suggested I be allowed to turn onto the side I slept on and baby settled down nicely - they were talking emcs in the corner!! . Wasn't a nice birth but no tears /stitches.
And 'dd' came out a 7.10 screaming ds!!
What a shocker!!

April did he go home in pink?

I had two back to back labours at home in water. I cannot compare it to a normal way birth but I coped fine. Birthed both on all fours which the midwife said gave most room.

Good luck. Sure it will go well x

Actually a lovely lady who didn't know what she was having had an outfit for both in her bag, gave me the blue one as she had a girl!!
Hospital were as shocked, had been having bladder scans regularly and she had been peeping at dc and she hadn't seen previously unsighted bits either!!.
She visited me in the ward and was so apologetic!

DS2 was back-to-back and had his arm under his head! I don’t know if that was the reason I was nearly two weeks over with him, but everything was relatively straight forwards on the night. I was in labour for about six hours (much quicker than with DS1) and although it was painful, it was bareable with gas and air only. Try not to worry too much. I would imagine there is still a chance your baby could move.

Both of mine were back to back but I didn't know - had emcs with ds1 due to slow progress and elcs with ds2 who was overdue but I did go into labour naturally a couple of days before with him but stuck with the section anyway which was questioned by the surgeon at the time as he seemed to think I could do it naturally but I just had a feeling. After surgery he said I had made the right decision as it would have been a very tricky labour!

At least you know and can make a decision I would have loved to have known don't know why they couldn't say.

My dd was back to back but this wasn't known until I had been in labour for ages.

I went into labour naturally at 40 weeks, labour was very long but the pain wasn't horrific - I only had 4 paracetamol and gas and air. I had to have syntocinon to speed up my labour as my contractions pretty much stopped at one point. I don't really remember the pain of the contractions now - I just remember my lower back being painful and incredibly tender (midwife suggested to DP to massage my lower back but I screamed at him to leave me alone as he just made it worse).

I gave birth squatting on the floor, midwives were very happy with me roaming around the room and changing positions despite being hooked up to all sort of things. In hindsight, a water birth may have been soothing so I'm hoping to have one with my next dc but I'm not sure if that is a possibility if back to back is known.

Have you looked into hynobirthing? (there's a lot of free resources online), midwifes commented that that seemed to helped me a lot.

Both mine were back to back - first went on for ever and I had every pain relief going ended up having to have a vontuse. Second was a breeze, was in hospital for about 3 hours. Both 8lb.

My first decided to go back-to-back when he was three days overdue. The midwives tried to turn him while I was in labour, but it proved impossible. Had he not become seriously stuck, though, I would have managed with breathing and a hired TENS machine. It was very painful, but I am a tough nut and could have got through it. He was eventually born by forceps and was over 10lb. I am 7 stone and 5 foot. So anything is possible...

DS3 was born back to back. 2 weeks overdue and much harder work to push him out than the others. I won't lie, I wish pain relief had been available and if I were to go through it gain I'd insist on it.

Again* !

DD was back to back throughout most of my labour. She turned right before she was born. Pain was manageable and I only used G&A plus TENS/water. I went from 3cm to 10cm in about 4-5 hours, so not slow! She was my first as well.
Prior to getting to 3cm I had a lot of stop/start contractions over 2-3 days, which I read can happen with back to back.
I delivered on all fours and spent most of my labour standing up, leaning my head against the wall. I had to lay down for an hour for monitoring and it was horrific. I wouldn’t have been able to cope if I’d had to lie down the whole time! Only had a small tear.

Back to back, had to be induced. I tried everything to get her to turn before birth to no avail. It wasn't great, drip, epidural, episiotomy, two hours pushing, threatened constantly with c-section. Quite a few stitches. Some people fair better than I did, but if you can get baby to turn, do.

I was in the throws of labour in the birthing pool when the midwife told me my son was back to back. I had seen an episode of one born every minute with a back to back birth and was horrified!!! I went on all fours and did loads of circling that id been told about in yoga for about an hour and he actually turned! Came out face down so it can be done even at that late stage!

My baby was back to back during labour. Not going to lie, it hurt a lot and the pain was mostly in my back. It took longer but that's because I ended up having an epidural which slowed things down. There's time for you baby to turn mine did but the turned again just before I went into labour. I think there are moves you can do to help the baby turn but you'd have to ask your midwife what they are.

After reading these others replies, I would strongly advise not labouring on your back, like I did with my legs in stirrups. I think that might have been what made allll the difference to the pain (understatement). With BtoB, the contractions don't tend to let up either which is why I recommended pain relief in my other post.

Both of mine have been back to back, and delivered face up. And i was induced both times. I don't have anything to compare it to but they were manageable enough. The first birth I had pre eclampsia and had an epidural. Delivered on my back and had an episiotomy which healed very quickly.
Dd2 is 6 weeks old and was also b2b. Laboured for about 3 hours with a bit of gas and air and spent most of it upright leaning over a rail on the wall. Had another episiotomy as she was quite big and became distressed at the end but recovered ok. Both births were positive experiences and I recovered fast.

There are moves you can do to try and turn baby but ultimately my midwife said some women's anatomy just makes them more likely to have back to back labours.

My first DD was back to back and I had a water birth which I found really helped! I only had gas & air and once my waters had broke she was here within 10mins. One thing the midwife did recommend was a TENs machine as all my contractions felt like they were in my back 😔

Good luck to with everything!

Yep my DD was back to back. Natural birth though with no assistance. I was pushing for 4 hours don’t get me wrong but it is doable.

I had a back to back labour, it was quick, I went from 1cm to 7cm in 2 hours and then he arrived 45 mins after that.

Didn’t know he was back to back till I was 7cm and then he was in distress so he came out with episotomy and ventouse, sore for a while but I healed up well and although it wasn’t the water birth I hoped for, he came out really healthy and happy.

I didn’t have much gap between my contractions. I tried the tens machine too late, and couldn’t work it out, so get that on early in your labour.

I think if i’d known the baby was back to back then getting in a birth pool would have helped and some gas and air. I stayed in the shower running hot water on my back and dehydrated myself on a very hot day.

Hot water bottle and back rub (rub not massage helped for me)

Afterwards I read about Optimal Fetal Positioning which is interesting and worth a go.

But ultimately don’t stress, your baby will arrive with you in which ever way and when you hold them in your arms it’s all worth it.

Totally agree with @BlancheM about the contractions not letting up. It seemed to be intense pretty much from the start, no build up.

I'd say be prepared to accept pain relief even if you hadn't planned on using any. You may not need it but I wish I'd have had the chance (labour progressed to quickly) as I couldn't hold myself up through the contractions so had to labour on my back which isn't great, especially for a back to back baby.

Ask your midwife about exercises to help turn baby as there are lots and you have a little time left :)

My dc was back to back. Had a trial labour but after many hours had a cs. I didn’t realise the significance of b2b at the time. I just remember contractions so strong and fast they took my breath away but no progression. Had a beautiful baby in the end and that’s all that mattered.