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

[iampgatlast]

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

PS, DH just pointed out water pool really helpful for first stage - this was largely why we got ours - sadly hardly used it - anybody wanna buy it? LOL - Regular Pool-in-a-box fantastic value.

hiya

I had a homebirth with ds2 who was back to back and it was fantastic.
the midwife said it took her by surprise, but I had knwon he was back to back and figured it didn't really matter lol
how did i cope? well, I had a birth pool which I very much enjoyed using. The pain I experienced was less than with ds1 even though he wasn't back to back. though i think this was perhaps more to do with preparation I did beforehand on positive thinking and working out how I was going to try and deal with it all.
I had a very long pushing phase (out of the water btw)- about an hour and a half before he eventually popped out wth a very bruised and squished forehead.

But, it was fine. it was lovely in fact. and I want another one already- so can't have been that bad lol

also will ditto the back pain thing- much more in the back than in the tummy.
I also laboured kneeling up leaning on the sofa which helped a lot.
I did try lying down at one point and it was horrible

oh and also, I had no pain relief whatsoever

Dd was OP, and I did have an epidural. Don't let that put you off though, because I don't know what the outcome would have been if she hadn't been OP, IYSWIM... suspect I might have been asking for an epi anyway!

In the end she turned during labour, after about 1.5 hours of pushing, and was born OA, so I know it's possible for them to change position right up to the last minute

Good luck with your homebirth.

My 2nd daughter was back to back. Yes it does hurt a lot more, one hell of a lot more and all the pain is in the back, so it doesn't feel the same as normal contractions. It felt more like pain than contractions iyswim! But I got through it with a water birth and gas and air. It can be done.

Just be careful with the pushing. My daughter shot out, and being back to back gave me a very bad tear (3rd). I'm not so sure whether that would have happened if she had been normal.

But it can be done... if you don't want an epidural, you can get through it. I was determined not to have an epidural (and technically I didn't get mine until after the birth!) so sheer grit and determination got me through it... Don't be put off by what your midwife says (but don't feel bad if you find you do need to go into hospital).

Good luck