back to back labour..how bad is it?

[steph1512]

im 39wk with my third and found out today baby is back to back!

ive had two straight forward prob free labours first 3.5hr and 2nd 1.5hr

how much worse is back to back likely to be and is there added risks,

should i still op for my planned homebirth??

hehe dont think i let go of my gas and air4 a second first two times...n if anyone tried to move it them more fool them they were in for it...i even heard one midwife ask the other at my homebirth with my 2nd if she had anymore g&a in the car as i seemed to like it alot!!

DelsParadiseWife - you described my labour almost exactly in your post. Especially the bit about being very frightened about what was to come (not helped by being told it was too early for pain relief).

how old are your other two? you shouldnt have much problem if youve managed to get two out. sometimes these medics are hell bent on getting you in to hospital "just in case" without being able to give real evidence why this is necessary. once your there you go down the monitoring, stay on the bed,on your back route. if you want a home birth stick to your plans. if they have real concerns when your in labour then theyll transfer you anyway. keep walking about as long as you can. get in and out the bath when you want. and drink that rasberry leaf tea last few weeks. really helps when your in labour too. good luck

my other two dds are 3yr8mth and 2yr.

ive always drank loads or rasp tea previously but been slack this time need to do some serious drinking this week...tastes worse than i remember!

Just thought i would let you all know my little boy made a speedy arrival on saturday managed to get to the birth centre and 15min in the pool, so assumin he had turned but at the time didnt dar to ask was in too much pain lol.

He is gorgeous and weighed 6lb150z

god it was hell, ended up with keillands forcepes, so this time have to discuss c-sect. but u have plenty time for bubs to turn, my dd turned back to back while i was in labour so not sure if thats y ended up with forcepes etc, good luck 2 u

Ds1 and dd were both back to back during labour. Ds was a nightmare, but it was 15 years ago, nobody bothered checking which way round he was and I was told to lay on my back.. Grrr

dd however was only 6 years ago, I was encouraged to move about, had a fab midwife and gave birth in a sort of sideways position .. Where dd turned as she came out. No gas and air , no other pain relief and no stitches.
The only thing I did really was tell the midwife delivering what happened with ds and how worried I was. She did the rest.
One hour 45 mins later dd arrived

it really can be okay.. My advice tell the delivering midwife your concerns and move around.. I found kneeling on all fours helped lots.

Ditto SoLongAsItsHealthy - don't want to scaremonger, but there are things to be aware of in back-to-back labours if they're going to be troublesome ones (sounds like many have had problem-free ones, so hope yours will be too ), so it's a good idea to consider what you'd do in various situations before the event, as you clearly are now.

Mine was my first, I did all the exercises that my midwife aunt showed me to try to get him to turn before the labour, but to no avail. It was 33h long, and really very painful for last half, he was distressed towards the end and dropping in heart rate, and at hour 31 they said if this fails they would to put us through for emergency cs, but I had an epidural, and that actually really helped him to turn apparently. With epidural in, I delivered on all fours, and only took 45 mins of pushing. I wish I'd known that in this event, if dc is stuck, an epidural can loosen things up and help. My nct class was v. v. anti all intervention and so I had no idea. If I had known maybe I could have shaved 10 hours of struggle off the labour be having one earlier.

However, I hope your homebirth goes well. My cousin, who's also a midwife (I'm spoilt for them) is totally pro-homebirth in nearly every situation. Good luck!

Sorry Steph1512 - only just realised that you've had your baby

Congratulations on a gorgeous boy and well done!!!