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Childbirth

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

Original poster

back to back baby at 40 weeks - i have a few questions ladies!

32 replies

iampgatlast · 29/01/2008 16:04

hi ladies

my baby has been head down and to the left for weeks and weeks and was in this position at 37 weeks. i have just had my midwife appointment (i am due today) at 40 weeks and he has gone back to back! i am planning a homebirth and mw said i would lost likely end up in hospital due to lack of pain relief if he does not turn.
so my questions are...

what can i do to try and turn him so he is not back to back?

if your baby was back to back and you had a homebirth - did you cope?

if you had a hospital birth how did you cope - ie was an epidural your lifesaver?

thanks xx

OP posts:
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Nbg · 29/01/2008 16:09

Hi

My second baby was back to back and I had him without any pain relief at all. All in all my labour with him was 6 hours.
I did need forceps with an episiotomy but it was alot easier than my first.

My third I had a homebirth and he was flitting from side to side right up until the day I had him.
My midwife suggested that I leaned over onto a bed with my legs slightly apart and sway from side to side. Apparently this encourages baby to move.

HTH and good luck

Original poster
iampgatlast · 29/01/2008 16:15

thanks nbg its reassuring to know it can be done.

have just seen other back to back thread

another question -

he is fully engaged also so does this decrease the chances of him turning?

OP posts:
MissChief · 29/01/2008 16:18

yes, did this but with wonderful midwife who knew what she was doing and put me in various positions during stage 1 of loabour to help him tunr round. talk to yr mw for reassurance. swaying on birthing ball or similar is excellent. but as i'm sure you know, you can'tplan for every eventuality, esp 1st time round (not sure if it is for you) and as long as you'[br both ok doesn't really matter whether you gave birth at home or not, looking back, ifyswim?

Nbg · 29/01/2008 16:34

No, him being head down wont stop him from turning it just makes it a little bit more difficult.

I second what misschief said about the birth ball. They are great. And also movement in labour.
Try and keep as mobile as possible rather than laying down and if you do need to lay down, go on your sides and move from one to another.

Try and make sure in the meantime that you dont slouch when your sat as that encourages baby to lay back to back too.

BigBadMouse · 29/01/2008 16:53

lots of good advice on here so far so not much to add other than my own personal experience...

2 x pgs which reached FT and both were back to back . I'm sure the slouching bit is very good advice - I'm a really bad sloucher and sure that didn't help at all with my baby's positioning.

Established labour with DD1 was 32 hours, with DD2 16 hours - on both occassions the head had engaged very early on in the pregnancy.

They both turned themselves, labour was longer as I had to go through a fair few contractions to get them to turn. Both were supposed to be a homebirth (more MW's choice than mine ) but both were born in hospital and yes, epidural was a life saver for me. I wasn't all that fussed about staying at home tbh mainly due to the hospital being 1hr away down a very windy, bumpy road - I just wanted to get there before things got too bad. (Wimp alert!)

Don't let that dishearten you though. I'm expecting DC3 now so the labours haven't put me off (and I am a seriously wimpy wimp).

I saw this website link on another thread. I think it looks really helpful. Sorry if you have already seen it. I'm going to use the tips on there to help me get through what I expect might be another long, but very worthwhile, labour .

rainbowdays · 29/01/2008 16:55

Are there any useful links to how to do "optimal foetal positioning" correctly? That seems to be what many suggest????

Original poster
iampgatlast · 29/01/2008 18:51

thanks ladies for your experiences and responses.

i am terrible at slouching so i am going to really try hard to sit correctly.

thanks rainbowdays - will google optimal foetal positioning and see what comes up!

OP posts:
Lulumama · 29/01/2008 18:55

my second baby was OP , until a few days ago, i thought she had turned in labour, but she hadn't ! she was born OP.. and do you know, it was painful, but i laboured upright and active for most of the latent and part of the active phase, had a bit of pethidine and a lot of gas and air.. born over an intact perineum with an established labour of 3 hrs 15 mins.

my first was an emergecny c.s , i had not really dilated and had had diamorphine and epidural, so had not really felt anything

Lulumama · 29/01/2008 18:56
  • so to finish that post, it felt like my first birth , and it was copeable with !

as long as you stay upright, and do not lie on your back, and are able to listen to and move as your body needs to, there is no reason it should not go well

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 29/01/2008 18:59

homebirth.org.uk has great info about ofp.

Good luck!

Daisymoo · 29/01/2008 19:03

I was at a homebirth this weekend where the baby was OP (first time mum). She had a straightforward labour, a bit of gas and air at the end, baby born in the pool and I would say the labour was a normal length for a first-timer.

Grr at your midwife for being so discouraging.

cazboldy · 29/01/2008 19:05

2 of my 5 babies (both of the girls incidentally ) were born back to back at home...one of them (the last one) accidentally on my own in the bath!

with both of them i found the contractions were very odd and had a lot of back ache and pain in my legs. I also have very fast labours. I found the best position to give birth in was on my hands and knees - this seemed to take some of the pressure off iyswim

I am sure you will be great - just listen to your body!

and your baby will probably turn anyway!

goingfor3 · 29/01/2008 19:10

DD2 was back to back just a few hours before I went into labour. I'm not sure if she turned around but my labour was 2 1.2 hours, I spent it all flat on my back and I only had to push about four times to get her out!

thingamajig · 29/01/2008 19:18

My baby was back to back and she was born at home, with no painkillers 5 weeks ago. I had backache contractions, but they weren't so very bad, and though the third stage was a bit longer than normal, she came out fine, if with a slightly squashed nose!
I didnt know that she had turned till I was in labour, she had been face back for weeks and weeks, so I didn't try any foetal positioning techniques. However, my Active Birth teacher suggested:
Lean forward with your knees up on a low sofa and your elbows on a cushion on the floor - it sounds utterly impossible when 9 months preg, but the idea is that baby slips slightly up out of your pelvis, allowing them to turn more easily
Always sit with your knees lower than your hips - use a cushion under your bum to do this
Do lots of crawling anound on all fours, or kneeling and leaning forward with your elbows on the floor on a cushion

Hope that helps, and good luck with the birth, I hope it all goes well for you.

reikizen · 29/01/2008 19:20

What a stupid thing to say to you. Talk about planting the seed. Lots of babies are posterior at some point in labour. Ignore her (on that score at least) and have a lovely, happy, homebirth. Yes, it probably will hurt but you'll cope.

TurkishDeelite · 29/01/2008 19:26

I had a back to back baby- and I was so scared of my mums own back to back baby birth story that I went for a c-section. I tried everything to turn that baby at 39 weeks, every possible position, every day for a week, she would not budge.

I ask this to any pro-homebirth mum because I just don't understand... why risk the baby by giving birth at home??? Especially in a delicate situation...

goingfor3 · 29/01/2008 19:30

My labour was 2 1/2 hours not 21.2.

TurkishDeelite back to back is not a reason not to have a homebirth it just means that the labour may be longer and more uncomfortable and if thats the case then if someone is more comfortable at home that's the best place to be. A homebirth is probably less risky than a c-section.

Lulumama · 29/01/2008 19:32

I am afraid that i think a c.s for an OP baby is bad practice. there are so many more useful ways to deal with an OP baby. I am amazed it was done solely for that reason.

OP labours are not always horrific. if your mum had a bad time, that is no reason yours will be the same.

as you can see just by reading this thread, many of us have birthed or seen OP babies birthed quite easily

Lulumama · 29/01/2008 19:33

nor do i understand the risk of having an OP baby at home? why is it more risky?

Lulumama · 29/01/2008 19:34

OFP]] and ink{http://www.spinningbabies.comwww.spinningbabies.com

TheBlonde · 29/01/2008 19:40

I have had 2 OP babies
1st one - gas n air and pethidine
2nd one - gas n air only

I had both of mine in hosp but it would have been fine at home pain relief wise

Certainly baby being OP is no reason for a c=section

Hope you have a lovely homebirth

Original poster
iampgatlast · 29/01/2008 21:55

thanks again for your experiences.

lulumama thankyou for the links, i shall have a good read up tomorrow on op babies. good to know you had a positive experience too. i intend staying active throughout labour and all being well he will be delivered in the pool.

reikezen - deep down i know my midwives do not agree with my homebirth and even though i am very strong minded when it comes to an appointment with them i just seem to freeze and take everything they say as gospel and then come on mn for a good hearty dose of reassurance!

turkish - i think that opting for a c-section was a bit over the top in my opinion, i will be doing EVERYTHING i can for this not to be the case with me.
i am not endangering mine or my babies life my giving birth at home - i will be monitored and if at anytime the mw suggests going into hospital because of complications i shall be the first one to agree! i did not carry my baby around for 9 months to endanger his life at the end.

the blonde - thanks for your experience too, it just makes me feel like a stronger person and have the attitude well if so and so can do it then so can i, bit silly i know

thanks again everyone you have certainly settled my mind xx

OP posts:
tori32 · 29/01/2008 22:10

Hi you can phone this NCT optimum Fetal Positioning advisor on 08704239258. Cath will give details of positions to try before and during labour. HTH.

I spoke to them as my first was a back to back. Altogether from 1-9cm took 33hrs at home with tens and gas and air. Baby was engaged 3/5 from 34wks and unfortunately after going into hospital found dd was resting on my bladder. This meant after having an epidural I had to have a c-section because forceps and ventouse were not possible. DD was 9lb 12oz as well though so this didn't help.

GColdtimer · 29/01/2008 22:25

DD was back to back. The thing I found was I had an overwhelming urge to push when I was only 7cm dilated. In fact, I can't really remember the pain, only the fact that for about 3 hours I had to avoid pushing which was about as easy as avoiding breathing .

However, I did it with just gas and air and my DH breathing through every single contraction with me until I was allowed to push. Good thing was dd came out in 17 mins - as soon as the midwife finally told me to push, dd practically shot out.

Back massage really helped and being propped up over pillows on my knees when I couldn't stay on my feet any longer.

Good luck. Oh, one thing. If you have any sleep problems with the new baby, I would recommend and cranial osteopath and tell them about the positioning. It really helped my dd but I left it far too late.

Good luck!

Mazzletov · 30/01/2008 22:27

Hey there - have to second Lulumama here - I can't see why CS recommended for OP baby. Mine was OP throughout; I was warned it could mean a long first stage but nobody ever suggested abandoning home water birth as planned. Never heard of any risk involved. (Perhaps if I'd been booked for a hospital birth the advice might have been different! Ours seems to dislike natural labours - especially long ones - hence shockingly high CS rate.)

Pain relief not particularly an issue as far as I know with OP - more stamina, though I guess the two are linked. I got through the expected long first stage (19 hours to full dilation) and pushed for an hour, with only G&A, and not much of that because I found it awkward.

It wasn't the OP positioning but the undiagnosed BREECH that caused our problems! They didn't spot it til waters broke at 5cm dilation. However, I've wondered if the OP positioning made the breech harder to diagnose (any thoughts on that, anyone?) so just be warned on that count.

I should add that I've heard of the slouching/OP link, and sat on a birth ball all day every day for the last 2 months but, not being funny, I really do have very good posture, for various reasons. So it can't JUST be that!

SO, iampgatlast: good luck with getting the DC to turn - failing that, prepare for a long first stage, don't get psyched if the MW tells you you're only a cm dilated after several hours of frequent contractions! You're more at risk of unecessary interventions in a hospital, so stay away if you can. If you can't - be prepared. I wish I'd read up on CS but I had no idea I would need to. Best wishes to you.