Good positions for birthing a BIG baby?

[wildhairedwoman]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone could suggest the most 'tear free' positions to try when giving birth to a big baby.

I had read that squatting was good (you get gravity to help baby down, and the thighs apart position widens passage as it were), but then I also read that 'deep squatting' heightened the risk of a bad tear.

Just wondered whether anyone had any experience of positions (or anything else that might help) that got a biggun out without nasty tears?

[Bit of background, my first DS was 10lb4, and I had to be 'cut' (cannae spell epistiomy) - and although I laboured alternating between standing leaning on bed & sitting on chair leaning on bed, at the end they insisted on getting me in classic supported reclining lying down position on bed - and as DS got a bit stuck I had a team of folk holding my legs back around my ears whilst everyone else was yelling at me to push in slightly panicked manner - not so easy in that position!! ...and I'm now 34 wks pg and have just had sizing scan, this one is also big and on track to be as big as DS1 at due date - DS1 at least was 2 wks overdue!]

My first was 9lbs 6oz, second was 10lbs 12oz.

I birthed dh's head kneeling, but needed to do the lying on your back with your legs round the ears thing too to birth his body. Small 2nd degree tear resulted - no suturing needed.

When pregnant with next baby I ruthlessly cut almost all carbs from my diet and lived on protein and veg, with only a small amount of porridge and a half a cup of basmati rice a day to stop me going into ketosis. This baby was by far longest and with biggest head circumference, but weighed less than both my other two (he was 9lbs 3oz). That time round gave birth kneeling - no tear at all!

first was 9, 4 and I didn't tear much laying on my back. tbh that was the most comfortable position for me.