Why do many women still give birth on your back

[Reallytired]

Last week I saw an obstetic physio for SPD. I was told that I should avoid being on my back during labour as there was a strong risk of further trashing my ligaments. I have been advised to give birth in a supported kneeling position. (Which is fine by me as I used that position successfully with my son.)

I was also given a leaflet on birth positions and it says there is a greater risk of incontinence problems after birth if you give birth on your back.

The most common reason for people not giving birth on their back is that it is working against gravity and slows down birth. (Ie. the active birth arguements.)

So with all these really strong arguements against labouring on your back, why do hospitals put so much pressure for women to give birth on their backs?

The first stage of labour with DS was almost 48hrs. I spent 95% of it in my bed with a book (lying on my left side).

Can't decide this time whether to get up and make things go faster or just go with the same plan, it took a long time but was not painful!

As a m/w I find a lot of women want to give birth on their backs. I encourage them to adopt better positions and explain why but they often say they're too tired or its more painful and are reluctant to try it or refuse to move.

Then there are the women who have epidurals or an instrumental delivery.

I had three quick births and was supported, encouraged to move around and be coomfortable during all three. nevertheless when I started to deliver I lay down because that was how I felt most comfortable and what intuitively felt right for me.
And surely what I wanted is the most important thing. I would be pretty fucked off if someone started telling me I could not be comfortable and happy because preventatively it may result in fewer problems later. Not least when I gave birth to my first 16 years ago and have none of the problems supposedly indicated by this type of delivery

I don't know. I keep telling them to bloody well get off me, but they follow me about and carry on doing it. It's a terrible strain.

Sometimes if I take over at shift change and go in they will already be on their back and won't want to move. Sometimes if I admit them they get on the bed while I'm out the room and I come back in and they are on the bed and don't want to move, or sometimes they don't want to move following an internal.

I've tried doing internals with the woman kneeling or standing up and I just can't do them. So if they want to know how dilated they are or I want to know then I have to get them on the bed. I know I've read posts on MN before saying that a m/w should be able to do internals in whatever position the woman wants to stay in but I can't, sorry. Am probably crap.

Thanks.

I really do try and encourage active birth but also bear in mind that not all women want that. As long as they've made an informed choice and they still want to stay on their back (not flat) then thats their choice.

I think media portrayal has a lot to do with it. Not sure about the dignified bit, I think in full blown labour women will pick whats comfy. But also surely they would feel more vunerable and exposed on their back than squatting?

Right, off to work. Will try and practise some VEs on squatting women.

I delivered sort of on my back (half reclining anyway) because it seemed to work best for the pushing for me. I was not getting very clear "pushing signals" from my body for some reason (even before being on my back) and found it easiest to get up a good push when in that position. I did try kneeling up on the bed and other positions in between, but every time things stopped progressing so I went back to that position!

That said, that was only for the very last part and I had had a very upright and mobile labour up till then, walking round half the hospital in fact, and was only on the bed at all for the very last part of dilating and for the pushing itself! But by the end I was too exhausted to stay on my feet any longer, and that position just seemed to work best for getting baby out.

I can't see that it's dignified at all. What's dignified about allowing all and sundry a good view of your bits? I'm now thoroughly programmed to think of it as degrading as I've read so much about it being a modern invention - King somebody-or-other wanting to have a good look at his mistress birthing, whereas before everybody was happy on good old-fashioned birthing stools.

Suppose all fours is the same for giving everyone a good view though - though I guess you could back into a corner lol.

Most dignified would be kneeling/squatting - supporting your own baby as it comes, and bringing it up before you to hold. Fairly easy to do in a pool with the water supporting you.
Or for us Western types with no squatting muscles, a birthing stool would be ideal.

I dunno, dignified or not wasn't really an issue for me - for one thing, there was only me, DH and 2 midwives there (and only 2 because one was a student, I had said I was OK with students) so it wasn't a case of "all and sundry" looking up my bits. And secondly there are so many other undignified bits about giving birth (the noises, the pooing,...) that that really wasn't a big consideration. Anyway it is kind of an animal thing to be doing really, so am not sure it is meant to be "dignified" IYSWIM?

But I do agree though that if the woman does NOT want to be on her back or is not comfortable like that, that's a whole different matter!

No you're right, ISexactlyWYM, absolutely not meant to be dignified really, shouldn't matter what position you're in as long as it's what you want, and as long as you realise that being on your back might not be so good for baby if you're there for a long time.

I wonder if it's really true that in former times it was very unusual to give birth in that position, that it's a modern practise invented for the benefit of doctors which everyone has come to accept as the norm. Sounds like a lot of women find it most comfortable - you wouldn't have thought that would change much through the ages.

TBH I'm sick of so many women giving birth on my back.
(haven't checked but its been done already hasn't it?)

I have twice now, and I have no idea why!

oh I see I've already been on this thread before I had DD Well it happened again and I still don't know why! It wasn't 'flat' on my back, the back of the bed was up quite far iirc.
Again, I got to hospital at 9+cm dilated, lay on my back for an examination and just started pushing after that, without moving. Suppose that's why.

lol Jeremy - had to re read that a few times!