39 weeks -Baby is back to Back - I am worried! What are you experinces Please!!

[pinkrangerstartstowaddle]

I am 38+5 and was told by my midwife last week that my baby is back to back but head down. Now im planning (or was) to have a home birth but this has really worried me as i everything i have read had said that this can cause problems and if i know before hand that there may be problems i would rather be in hospital. This is my second baby but never experinced anything like this first time round!

I have opted for a home birth as i would rather be at home then hospital but if i have to go there anyway then i would rather do that and take what they ofter, i am already struggling with slight SPD and swelling and had enough, really dont want a traumatic birth as well!

Any adivce or stories ( good and bad) please X

TIA

RubySlippers, did baby come out face to pubes? Cos I've heard from various sources and from a person I know that if baby doesn't turn and does come out OP it seems to be easier on your back. As you found yourself, labouring is not good on your back, as for everyone, but somehow instincts tell you to get on your back for birth.

Your pelvis opens up to 28% more if you are not reclined or sitting back on your coccyx but if your body seems to want to get in a position we know is not ideal, there can be a reason. I believe it's very important to trust our instincts and follow what our body seems to be tellign us.

Mine was also back to back with regular contractions for 48 hours. No pain relief (but gas and air), but plenty of tears.

It was a straightforward birth with no complications ... but the chances are that the baby will turn before then

I would also recommend a cranial osteopath should your dc be back-to-back. It worked wonders for my ds.

Klaw - i have no idea!!!! It is all a blur ...
think he was face up
will ask DH - he had a better view

DS was back to back for a few weeks towards the end. I did all the exercises to turn him, leaning forward all the time, leaning over birthing ball etv etc and he turned beautifully into a perfect position.
Then for labour he helpfully turned back again. My labour was taking ages though so it may have been because they kept putting me on my back to monitor us both
Was not good, and tbh I would not go for a home birth if you are at all worried about any complications, but that's just me, and if you are close to the hospital and will be more relaxed at home it might well be the best option for you.
Good luck with it all.

My ds2 was op during labour and it was very fast (written down as about 1 hour 20 mins) but extremely painful. Worse than the first two but all three were natural births. I tried other positions but on my back felt the best and also ha to go on my back as it was best for baby, his heartrate was dipping a lot and in that position it was better. I didn't have any tears or stitches either.

sorry not a good experience for me.

it was long and painful. i think it was made worst by my anxiety, not resting enough in early labour.
allowing pethidine (horrid experience)

in the end i did have an epidural but managed to push dd out. she had been in distress.

next time, should there be one i will be following the 'optimum fetal position' advice from day one, it worked for a friend

not good for me either sorry, 7 days and 19 hours in labour all back contractions. I was 11 days over as well which didn't help. Keep on all fours as much as you can, there is still time for the baby to move.

GOOD LUCK!

ow

don't dismiss epidural. i went to sleep, DS turned.

optimum positioning didn't work for me. but my kitchen floor was clean when we brought the little one home.

Hi not read the whole thread yet.
My DS1 came out 'nose up' I knew nothing about it, I thought I was quite well read about what might happen in labour, I didn?t even know it was happening or that it wasn?t 'normal'. Ended up being forceps and then vontuse(sp) with an epipesiotomy(sp!) as his face got stuck on the edge of my cervix. I only know this as a midwife who discussed with me the need for counselling told me later. But at the time they seemed to know what they were doing and I was not worried at all. I did not know that it was difficult until sometime after when discussing it at baby group.
I had gas and air and an injection called Meptid, which when I heard about I made everybody write down because I knew I would not remember it, but knew enough that I did not want pethedine.

Only read op, but ds was back to back.

Had all the advice re knealing to turn him but didn't bother as far too huge to be bothered by the late stages

It turns out that he had his cord like a sash so I don't think he could turn anyway and he kinda came out sideways

But TBH his birth was much better than dd's. I had gas and air and a slight tear. I would imagine it's fine for a homebirth and would imagine MW would say otherwise. It's usual(i think) for a baby to turn once labour has started. My mw said that if they are back to back when labour begins they may take a while to come out so labour would take longer. My waters started to leak on thursday around 11pm, contractions started soon after middnight and baby born at 2.30pm on friday. OK so it wasn't short but in the grand scheme of things not too bad

Good luck

just a thought, when your on all fours, make sure little ones don'e think it's piggy back time like my niece did. DOH!

pethadine and G&A worked for me, they tried twice for epidural but failed as kept hitting blood vessels.

No experience of this but what about a midwife led unit if your hospital has one then you can transfer to labour ward if there are any problems, but you will be in a more "homely" environment.

Hi,
My DC3 was born back to back but they didn't know until his head came out!
I managed it in 2hrs 48mins(complete labour!) with no pain relief and if i can do it you can.
Don't worry you'll be fine.
I honestly didn't find it any more painful than the 2 normal deliveries i've had.
Good luck

My ds1 was back to back, I didnt know until i was in labour with him and to be honest by that time i didnt really take it in. He was my first baby and so I was more worried about how i would cope with the pain.

It turned out to be a long labour and the actual birth was drawn out but i got through it with no pain relief and no tears. He was 8lb 5oz.

In respect to my following two labours I dont think my first was made any worse by him being back to back. Both subsequent labours were more painful than the previous one. Baby no3 was a straight forward labour but it was far worse than ds1's so in that respect ds1 being back to back actually made little difference

DS2 was back to back, it was discovered after a few days of stop and start labour. I was booked into am MW led unit and it was really important I delivered there (to me anyway) as the main unti was about 50 miles from home, I went to the edge of the area to avoid a certain other unit.

The truth?

Labour was looong- 44 hours [shcok] BUT it was also a pleasantt, gentle experience, and that was because of the MW that attended me. They used exercise, essentiaql oils, amssge and kept me where I felt I needed to be. i think they thought I;d transfer but they lept up the fight.

Have had 3 babies, first induced, third quick labour- the bacl to back one was by far the best for me.

DD was back to back. She was 8lb 12.
Was induced due to high BP (pessary only, no drip). Did not know she was in this position at the start of labour.
From 'show' to birth was 4 hours. One or two puffs of gas and air, no other intervention. Fab midwives, monitored me with the hand-held thingy rather than strapping me to a monitor and let me move around as much as I could, though as other have said on here, wanted to lie down more than anything.
Pain-wise was no different to DS.
Did tear though (stitched in theatre and all was well and healed by the 6-week check), but this could've been just as likely if she was normal presentation, due to her size.
Hope this helps and good luck.

My DS was OP, I was 5cm when I got to hosp, but they started monitoring me on a bed at that point, so it took another 6 hours to fully dilate, most of the pain was in my back, so hubby was rubbing this. I couldn't walk about to get things moving or help DS turn. I was fully dilated before pain relief, the consultant came in and insisted I have epidural, as he felt I'd need section. I desperately didn't want this, so he agreed to try ventouse. Ep slowed contractions, so i needed drugs to speed things up again. 4 hours lated DS born looking upwards as he came out (nosey buggar like his mum!) not the delivery I had hoped for, but at least avoided section, and only tiny tear (asked them not to cut me and to let me tear naturally). I had wanted drug free if poss, but felt cheated in a way that I'd only got the ep at the end - if I had to have one at all I felt I'd rather have had it at the beginning then I would at least have had a relaxing day, rather than the stress I went through (but that was due to the incompetencies of the reg, not the OP position, just to reassure you! which I won't go into).

Get on all fours now and start rocking your bum in the air, and do this as often as you can before you go into labour, walk as much as you can and have your birth partner ready to be rubbing your back A LOT during labour - at least with OP somebody can rub your back where the pain presents.

Even an hour post delivery couldn't wait to have baby no.2, so it didn't put me off!
good luck!

sorry, only read your q but my ds was back to back. no 'problem' as such, but it was vv painful (dd wasn't b2b and hurt sooo much less) so you might want to have hardcore pain relief to hand?

DD2 was back to back until labour started. I was told by midwives that 2nd/subsequent babies can turn at the last minute, or indeed during labour, so don't give up hope yet!

My first (32 hour) labour was back to back. The pain was not manageable and thank God I was in hospital and able to have an epidural. My next birth was such a doddle in comparison, I really know what Honoria means about how you feel like a wimp because you can't manage the pain and it's great to discover actually you're not a wimp, it was just a horrible birth

However in your case as you're 5 mins from the hospital, it doesn't sound like you're worse off attempting a home birth in any respect. It could take you less time to get to hospital than it might to get from one ward in a hospital to another.

It's definitely doable. Mine was back to back and with no real way of getting into a good position because the placenta was attached to front wall. I knew this all the way through and so baby was always going to favour back to back. He started labour ROA but had to rotate all the way round to LOA (birth starting position) rather than slip across the front.

Labour was: 12 hours prelabour, 12 hours 0-5cm and 12 hours 5-10cm. I did this in a midwife led unit at Chipping Norton with an ambulance on stand by.

Apart from it being a tortuous experience and completely exhausting, I did manage it with TENS and entonox (from 8cm), with birth pool and aromatherapy. I finally begged to be transferred and gave in at 9cm but it was too late to go. Had I been in a hospital I would have begged for an epidural at 6cm. If you can stick it out and you have good, patient and calm midwifery care it can be done and you recover very quickly. This does not mean that those who opt for pain relief are not tough enough it just means, giving birth is all about environment, some contexts are conducive to sticking it out and tolerating the pain (which is a mental and physical place no one wants to be in for very long) and come environments are not.

My advice would be to opt for a midwife led unit rather than home. Home birth midwives use hosptial protocol to assess progress. They may be in your home but they are still answerable to the obstetrician and they tend to err on side of caution. Midwife led units or birth centres have their own criteria for assessming progress.

For example, a hospital assess progress as 1cm dilation per hour, if it is taking longer they augment and if it still takes longer as it often does with first babies they see it as failure to progress. My midwife led unit assessed progress as 1cm in a mx of 4 hours. With a posterior presentation this extra time is vital if you are aming for non-interventionist labour.

Hope all goes well

JoGH

Both mine were back to back, but DS1 had the cord round his neck too. He had to be dragged out quickly causing me to have lots of stitches etc. DS2 was fine. Went in just before midnight, had him by 1.45am. He had swolen eyes,& i got a slight graze, but all in all no real bother.

hi there, I had a baby 2 weeks ago who was in the back to back position. i didnt know until i went to hospital. for me all the pains were in my back which i actually found easier to deal with compared to last time when i had all the pains in my stomach. The only downside was that i had to lay on a bed the whole time as i was attached to a monitor due to complications with first birth, and i would have preferred to be moving around rather than laying on my back where the pain was. baby turned towards the end of the labour after my waters broke. i was lucky and managed to get through the whole thing just by deep breathing, no other pain relief, very very different to my first where i had everything available. I hope that everything turns out ok for you

The birthing pool was fab for reducing OP back pain IME. It didn't take the pain away, but allowed me to completely relax in between contractions and therefore to cope well with the contractions themselves. Shame that I had to get out as the OP position was also slowing things down.
Also good to remember is that although 25% of babies start in the OP postition, 95% of them turn during labour. So you have good odds of a "normal" birth. It's only completely stubborn little angels like my DD that insist on getting stuck!