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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

baby's back the wrong way around - any tips?

26 replies

Stefka · 02/10/2007 17:07

My midwife told me that she thinks the baby's back is the wrong way round. Just wondered if anyone had any tips for dealing with this. I am 38 weeks pregnant.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

NAB3 · 02/10/2007 17:08

Get on your hands and knees for 15 minutes 3-4 times a day. Meant to help encourage to turn. Good luck.

BetsyBoop · 02/10/2007 18:29

try these sites for tips

spinning babies

OFP

Klaw · 02/10/2007 20:32

Stefka, now is a great time to be doing OFP in order to get baby in Occipto Anterior position, but remember that if baby does not turn OA it is very likely that baby will turn during labour. It will just take longer to birth baby, you will have back ache pain and you and HCPs will need patience to give baby time to manouevre. Having your waters broken early will not help as then baby will not have cushioning to aid rotation.

There are sometimes very good reason why baby does not turn OA before labour so this is why I say not to stress yourself out as this is not condusive to normal birth. Indeed some babies insist on coming out face to pubes! And this is likely to be due to pelvic shape. Jean Sutton describes this very well at her lectures!

Stay strong and have faith, you can do this!

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 02/10/2007 21:25

Absolutely.

No slouching. Ever.

Always sit upright with your knees lower than your hips.

Lie on your left hand side as much as poss at night with pillow between your knees.

If you lie down and baby is the wrong way round, your belly button will be dipped down like a doughnut ring - just keep up the good work and check every day.

hobnob57 · 02/10/2007 21:41

Sounds weird, but my yoga teacher told me to massage the outside of my little toes. It's a reiki spot or something like that... Anyway, my dd was always spinning around and this actually got her on the move again for me. However the effect didn't last. I suspect this was because she was having trouble engaging properly as she ended up being an emergency c-section and had big bruises on her forehead and back of head. I distinctly remember feeling that she was pretty stuck in the font of my pelvis!

Good luck with the spinning!

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 02/10/2007 21:48

The spine and head are the heaviest parts, so GENERALLY speaking, if you're upright / tipping forwards, the spine should swing round to the front (which is what you want) and baby's head will be down.

Original poster

Stefka · 03/10/2007 08:14

Thank you so much for the advice and reassurance. I don't have another appointment now for two weeks so I won't know if the baby has moved or not - or can you tell from the belly button? Does it have to pop out for baby to be in the right position? I really want to try for a natural birth so I am a bit gutted by all this.

OP posts:

lulu25 · 03/10/2007 08:26

even if it doesn't turn there's no reason not to go for a natural birth. however, it can take a long long time and hurt a lot, so don't feel like you have to do it all unmedicated (i had an epidural but avoided epi and instruments, which was natural enough for me)

Lulumama · 03/10/2007 08:30

babies can turn in labour, it is not a reason to not for for a natural birth

if you search the archives on here, there are loads of good tips on turning, and coping with a back labour

Original poster

Stefka · 03/10/2007 08:39

That is good to here - well not the pain part but that I can still have a natural birth. I will do a search for posts.

OP posts:

PutThatInYourPipeandSmokeIt · 03/10/2007 08:45

Oh you mustn't worry. My friend delivered a back to back baby last week and she had no drugs until half an hour before baby was born because the midwife thought she might be a few more hours. She had pethidine but said if she'd known baby was almost there, she wouldn't have bothered.

You can tell by the belly button but it won't necessarily stick out if baby is the other way round. The whole area around it will be dipped down if baby is back to back with you.

How many weeks are you? If you spend time on all founrs with your bum in the air for the best part of a day (just as and when you can), baby may reverse out of the pelvis a bit (thus having more room to turn) and then you can do the sitting forwards etc.

Original poster

Stefka · 03/10/2007 08:54

I am 38 weeks, first baby. I wish I had another appointment coming up - maybe I will ask at the antenatal class on Friday. I've just done my first 15 mins on all fours and my arms hurt!

OP posts:

MNHQ

AbbyMumsnet · 03/10/2007 11:32

Sefka - I wrote something about this a while back for one of the pregnancy mags. Happy to send over to you if you want. Just Cat me.

Lulumama · 03/10/2007 11:39

really positive thread here about OP babies

mamijacacalys · 03/10/2007 12:49

DD was back to back and (aside from one pessary for induction) had a natural labour with a bit of G&A. Didn't get any backache and didn't feel any different or more painful than DS who was normal way round.
HTH and good luck

Loopymumsy · 03/10/2007 13:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Brunocat · 04/10/2007 10:18

My baby was back to back. I tried endless hours on the birthing ball and didn't really sit down on the sofa for the last two weeks, on all fours cleaning the skirting borads etc and it didn't make the blind bit of difference. The baby turned himself right at the end of labour. True I was 26 hours in labour but it wasn't that bad and an epidural took care of the last six hours. Don't worry about it. If you were thinking of an epidural though I'd just check that you can have one and have it as soon as you are three to four cm.

ShinyHappyPurpleSeveredHeads · 04/10/2007 10:24

My last two were back to back.

Original poster

Stefka · 04/10/2007 13:09

Thanks everyone - I was feeling quite positive about the birth and this has given me the jitters.

That article sounds good - I am not sure what CAT means though

I will also check that thread.

Someone I know who is a chiropractor said that she might be able to turn it. Does anyone know about this? I would be happy to pay her if it is a good thing to do.

OP posts:

missbumpy · 04/10/2007 16:03

Hi Stefka

I was looking at that spinning babies website again last night and found out a few reassuring things about back to back labour.

Firstly, apparently lots of women manage to give birth to OP babies with no problem at all (there was someone on the website who had done a back to back labour in 3 hours with no pain relief).

Secondly, the baby can still move into a better position.

Thirdly, midwives and doctors often mis-diagnose OP babies. Apparently palpating the bump isn't a very exact science and it can be especially difficult if you've got strong abdominal muscles. It seems like everyone's got a different opinion. In my case, GP told me last Saturday that baby wasn't OP. Midwife told me on Monday that it was. Yoga teacher today said she didn't think it was !

Try not to stress. It will all be ok and hopefully you'll get the natural birth you're hoping for.

Georgeous · 04/10/2007 16:24

Hi there Stefka,

My baby was back to back all the way through pregnancy, until she turned herself in labour. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be more painful, the contractions were just irregular at first, until she turned, that's all. I had a completely normal, natural 10 and a half hour labour at home, no drugs. I was a bit freaked out about the back to back thing as well, and was considering a hospital birth until my midwife said it was nothing to worry about. So many babies are back to back, in our mother's generation they wouldn't have even known about it, I think we suffer from too much info in this day and age!

One thing that might have helped is that my midwife told me to go up and down stairs sideways while I was in labour, and to crawl on the floor a lot. In the end I think it was the contractions that turned her, as the baby turns like a corkscrew to come out anyway. Please don't worry about this, as long as the baby is head down then he/she is in the right position.

Much love and good luck!

Original poster

Stefka · 05/10/2007 15:17

I had a hospital class today and the same midwife was running it so I asked her about the position again and she was kind enough to check me at the end. She said now she doesn't think I am back to back after all. So good news. But should I keep doing the all fours thing just in case or is that bad if your baby is actually in the right position?

OP posts:

halogen · 14/11/2007 23:16

Don't fret. My baby was the 'wrong' way round right up until I went into labour and then just turned herself. So do what you feel like and don't worry!

meimango · 15/11/2007 13:16

My midwife has told me to clean my kitchen and bathroom floors on my hands and knees

estobi1 · 17/11/2007 17:55

my dd was breech at 36 weeks but had turned by 38 weeks when she was born

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