My baby is back to back and I am 37 weeks preg she has been in this position forever......doesnt seem to want to budge

[mumofdjandbabies]

please tell me I can still get her out normally in this position ????

I am trying what I know to get her to get into a better position but she is so far having none of it.......

maybe she wont love till labour?

any ideas?

please reassure me ...........

That's true - swimming can help a back-to-back baby turn. As can leaning forward in the pool (holding onto the side, obviously!) and rotating your hips.
None of it worked for me though, DD1 just turned right back again (and DD2 is in the same position). Some women just have a pelvis shape that encourages OP.

Mumofdj, my Ds2 was also back to back from about 32 weeks i tried everything, scrubbing floors on all fours etc i was told sitting the wrong way round a chair also helps.

Anyway he didn't budge but must have turned in labour beacause he came out facing down, btw i arrived at hospital at 5.40pm and he was born at 6.10pm! i went from 5cm to 10cm in 15 mins! yeah it hurt a bit but no more than my first Ds1 (he wasn't back to back)

Try not to worry about it love x

aw thanks guys x Ill keep youposted shall I

Scrub the kitchen floor, and then scrub it again! Then weed the patio. Then scrub the bathroom floor. Do this all on hands and knees and get some good music on to encourage you to jiggle around. And if baby does swing round, only ever sleep on your left side, and don't slouch on sofas - make sure your hips are always higher than your knees. Get a wedge cushion to raise you bum up when you're in the car. Watch tv. leaning over the ball. Sit at the table on the ball and bounce on it (but make sure it's pumped up enough so your hips are higher than your knees).

And if all else fails, yes babies can be born back to back, it's just more painful in your back and may take longer so be really active and upright/leaning forwards to make the most of gravity. Baby's back is the heaviest part of him, so keeping your tummy forwards and making lots of space is the key but if he just won't move, there may be a reason such as having the placenta at the front of your uterus, for example.

I had a much easier and shorter labour with ds2 who, at 9lb 6oz, was over 3lbs heavier than ds1 and was back to back throughout labour and delivery. Had only gas and air, he arrived within an hour of arriving at hospital and I had no stitches either. Posterior lie does not necessarily mean a longer or more difficult delivery. Good luck

My DD was back to back. Ended up having a water birth which was amazingly pain relieving. Couldn't lie down on the hospital bed so ended up pacing up and down corridors and hanging over wheelchairs whilst they filled up the pool!
Best advice i can give is do all the rocking/all 4's stuff you can before labour but if baby is still back to back have as active a labour as possible and don't be forced to lie down!

thanks cashy good advice there

x

Update - Squirmy turned over to face the right way at 38+3. I was 150 miles from home when he started shifting and was very glad when I realised it wasn't contractions! He's still kicking loads though - he hasn't read the books which say that now he's engaged (4/5) he's supposed to calm down...

OOH THATS GOOD LOVE !!

My daughter was back to back and born stargazing and i found it v. painful. It was 3 days long and pushing for 3 hours. The pain was all in my back and none in my front but i felt the tightening in my abdomen.

The midwifes knew straight away from examing me i was having a back to back when i was in labour but they never gave me advice on positions and i had neva heard of it to know myself what to do.
I just had gas and air and i was in too much pain and off my head to ask for epidural but i would of had it.
Sometimes when i was at home i went in the all 4s pos and did find it very comfortable.

Still depsite the pain i found it the most fantasic experience of my life and it hasnt put me off having another baby even if that one will be back to back. :-)

xxx

my ds was back to back. only in labour for 4 and a half hours. contractions very close together quickly but all in back and thinghs (like that position you hold when strengthening your legs for skiing and you feel the burn). hospital told me not to go in until contractions went into stomach - well ds would have been born on living room floor as never did! had a lovely midwife who rubbed back for me before i pushed and found bath really helped. gas and air and a bit of pushing and happy days! hope that makes you feel more confident.

Yep, my first came out at high speed back to back (four and a half hours established labour) and my third was back to back, but turned in early labour.

Check out www.spinningbabies.com gives tips on mapping your babies current position and things to try now and in labour to get baby to turn.

Last time my son faced my spine for most of the pregnancy but decided to come out with his head at an odd angle. He had a grazed chin, nose and neck from being face first. I still had back labour with him even though his position was good.

This time LO is determined to be back to back despite everything I do..

Ultimately, baby will do what baby wants and you can still have a natural birth it might just take a while.

Good luck

Another back to back here. The worst part of it by far for me was because the position she was in I had the urge to push way before I was ready to - in fact I don't really remember the pain, just the monumental effort it took not to push.

The most comfortable position after I couldn't keep active anymore was kneeling forward over loads of cushions on the bed whilst mw rubbed my back.

One thing to think about after your baby is born - if she is an unsettled sleeper, I would really recommend a cranial osteopath - she told me that back to back babies are often more prone to sleep issues because of discomfort caused by their position.

Good luck!

DD1 was OP, and I did all of those foetal positioning exercises to no avail. (With DD2, I knew I was having a CS, so didn't bother at all with them - and she was resolutely the right way round all the way through) I honestly think that if they don't want to turn, they just won't. Don't feel that it is 'your fault' that DC is in this position, and please don't take any notice of the mysogynistic claptrap along the lines of 'women do not spend enough time on all fours scrubbing the floor' as if this were a) true; or b) significant in evolutionary terms!

I had a long and painful labour where I felt the contractions mainly in my back. To be honest, it was excruciating. The pain did not go away in between contractions, there was certainly no possibility of resting (or sleeping!) in between them. The labour progressed slowly and I ended up with interventions which meant I was on the bed, lying on my back for most of the time. I was not allowed to eat or drink. I wish I had known about keeping upright and as mobile as possible, I think that is really good advice. But we did get there! And all that pain, when it stopped, gave me a HUGE happy rush which lasted about a week. DD1 did not have any sleep issues, in fact slept midnight - 6am most nights from the age of 2 weeks.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

I didn't really know ds was back to back. mw told me he was in wrong position and to crawl round on my hands and knees for 10minutes every day. Which I did. No one else mentioned it so I assumed all would be fine. However after 23hours of labour they realised he would not come out as was still back to back so needed cs.

Glad everything ok now for you.

I remember the advice of a natural birth book to sleep on your left side to encourage the baby into a good position (I did this with the spare pillows between my legs to open things up a bit in the later stages of pregnancy!). An OP baby is fine for natural delivery, just might be more painful labour - my friend had OP baby and a natural delivery and found this was the case, but she just did it on gas and air and all was well. All the best.

i lay on left side, scrubbed kitchen floor, squatted etc etc to make dd turn, but she remained back to back. 8lbs 8oz, 36hr labour. 1 hr and 20mins pushing, gas and air and pethidine......i HAD to stand/walk all through labour, and once pushing began i HAD to squat down with each push, it was a totally uncontrollable urge. i guess this was my body's way of getting her out, as my friends who have had babies not in back to back position didn't experience this, but we're all different aren't we.

My DD1 was back to back although I didn't know til I was in labour. She came out naturally. It was more painful than my second DD who wasn't back to back, but being my first I didn't know any different (DD2 was a pleasant change!)

All 3 of my babies were back to back and all came out eventually. Mine were all 2 weeks late. The last 2 came in under 2 hours and under 90 mins, so it is possible. Gas and Air did the trick for me!

Good Luck

DS was back to back, and like others the problem was the lower back pain. I found I couldn't sit or lie down at all, so meandered round the corridors mostly. The advice I wish I'd been given is that if it's that intense and you end up with a long labour, you risk becoming too tired to make it to a natural birth. I lasted 24 hours without any drugs, then was told that if I didn't get a rest I wouldn't have the strength to manage a natural birth. I then struggled on for another 12 hours when I was still only 4cm dilated (stubborn, moi!), before finally giving in, by which time the epidural wouldn't take (apart from in my legs v.helpful..!) We got there in the end after 48 hours, being induced, ventouse and forceps, which I'd guess were all needed because I was too exhausted to push without help. In the end it was fantastic - I honestly am so glad I didn't end up with a cs. Am really not saying this to freak you, only because I wish I'd known I needed more rest. If it happened again, I'd definitely give in to the epidural far far earlier. And this from someone who is very anti drugs... Good luck!

Haven't read the rest of the thread but my dd was back to back, or "nose to pubes" as the midwife so charmingly put it.
She was born at home on Christmas day in 6 hours and I had no pain relief other than 2 paracetamol. I had lower back pain but it wasnt that bad, I found that being at home and being able to move around and use different positions to help move her down. I honestly do not think that I would have managed to have her naturally if I had had the additional monitering that a hospital birth inevitably entails.
Good Luck and remember your baby may still turn. Dd was in the correct position until a few days before labour.

Just read the thread ans would second the positioning stuff, I gave birth squatting and hanging onto the toilet and bath in my bathroom!
Also I got very tired and shaky at one point and the mw gave me a teaspoon of honey which revived me no end, as I had lost all my breakfast and been too busy for lunch! So get some honey or glucose sweets for keeping your energy up.

aw thanks guys youre encouraging

My ds1 was back to back, 48 hour labour, mainly led on bed being monitored on my back enevitabley led to cs as i failed to progress past 5 cm (nice terminolgy eh? failed).

With ds2 i was determined to be active in labour. Had to be continuolly monitored due to prev cs etc. I had mobile monitoring. Ds2 was also back to back and it was painful but has all the drugs they would give me. Finally i has epidural and i was very close to fully dilated so i hindsight i might have managed but it was excruitiating. I managed to deliver vaginally and whole with from starting labour was under 12 hours. They were going to suck him out and heart rate dipping but i piled all my efforts and pushed him into the world.