40 Weeks...Back to Back

[B01529]

Hi all

I have just join mumsnet as I need lots of advice..

I am pregnant with my 3rd child, my 2 pregnancys were normal and delivered well without problems!

This one however has been straight forward until now.

I am 39+5 weeks pregnant. Have just left midwifes who was non so helpful!! To be told that babys head is still free and not dropped plus baby has moved and is still head down but is now back to back with mine!!

I am now worrying myself with everything possible as i was hoping to have a home birth!!

Any advice will be welcome and thank you xxx

Hi!

I'm in the same position (but 40+5 at the moment!) My baby is back to back and head is not fully engaged, and I'm also planning a home birth.

My understanding of the situation is that a back to back baby finds it harder to engage and descend into the pelvis. This means that labour might be a bit slower to start as you don't have the pressure exerted on the cervix that a fully engaged baby will have. But it can start naturally, and usually in 9 out of 10 people the baby will turn and it's head will engage in labour (though obviously the 1 in 10 that don't turn might be harder to deliver, might mean a longer more drawn out labour, but isn't impossible!).

For me my worry now is not having a home birth and having to be induced in a hospital and entering a hospitalised situation. I'm not carrying out any "self induction" methods because as i see it if the baby is in an awkward position I can't see it helping things, just maybe guaranteeing me a long drawn out labour. Obviously if I get to 42 weeks then induction or expectant monitoring is a choice I'll have to make, but the thought of goign too far over 42 weeks does worry me as the baby is still growing away in there!

At the moment I'd recommmend remaining calm and hopefully labour will start naturally, the baby will turn, and you'll get your home birth. In labour I'd probably recommend bending over a ball, or draping yourself over the sofa to encourage your babys back to your belly.

HTH

Are you doing all the positioning things you can? You need to be avoiding sitting leaning back and spending a lot of time leaning forwards or on all fours. A lot of people recommend the Spinning Babies website.

Hi rimsky

Thank you for your message, its nice to know that I am not on my own and its normal to have the worries I am having. As after having read your message I felt as I had wrote parts of it!

I hope you dont get to 42 weeks and you manage your home birth at home which i am sure you will.. We both will.

Thank you for your advice

Good luck

Hi japhrimel

Thanks for website shall have a look.

Have been swimming this morning and been on my ball. Shall try the all fours.

Thanks for your advice.

Hi DD now 6 weeks was back to back. She turned during labour. My labour was all in my back - contractions felt nothing like period pains - just like intense pressure on back. She is my first DD, I went in labour spontaneously at 39 plus 2. Labour was 19 hours, but first 7 were only uncomfortable (first 4 in a chinese restaurant) and I only had pain relief for the last 4 - gas and air. big tip wold be active birth - i was very active and this helped hugely.

I'm just back from the hospital after a back to back labour. I had a normal i.e. no intervention birth but I'm not going to lie - it was excrutiatingly painful and all in my back. I did fracture one of my lower vertabrae years ago which may well have exasperated the pain though.

It took a very long time for me to dilate so, after several hours, they wanted to put me on syntocin (sp?) to get things moving so I got moved from the birth centre to the delivery ward for an epidural which was a bit gutting because I really wanted things as natural as possible. But in the end I didn't really care because I got my lovely baby in the end.

I really, really hope he moves into position before the birth for you and you get the home you want! x x

I ended up with EMCS after 39 hours of back to back labour with failure to progress. I must say it was bloody painful! The EMCS may have been because my waters breaking was my first sign of labour starting and it had been too long but i'm not too sure as i was blinkin' knackered and completely out of it by then!

I had back to back with my first, but did go into labour spontaneously at 40 + 7. It was looong - 36 hours start to finish and she only turned at the end. I would say get on the Spinning Babies website, on all fours and moving as much as possible - you can go on all fours and kind of rotate your hips, and try and get the baby turned. You'll have an easier time of it if you can turn it before you go into labour. My back to back labour was very painful but I know others haven't found it so bad.

My only advice is to remain upright and active in labour. Nothing would budge my two before labour and I tried everything. dd, I was on my back with an epidural and she didn't turn- bloody agony. With ds, i was upright and he turned before birth.

I'm 36 weeks pg with a back to back baby, right way up, wrong way round as I tell people! It's been back to back since 27 weeks,I have never felt it's back on my front, this is also my 3rd pregnancy.
My midwife seems unconcerned, she said as it's a third, the other two have paved the way and it should be straightforward.
I was interested to read about the baby not engaging, because this one hasn't either, it's still free, whereas other two were well down by now.
I've done everything possible to get it to move, but it never has, possibly as I have an anterior placenta so it's more comfy where it is.
Hope all goes well, I'm trying not to read too much and take it as it comes, but I must admit, when your midwife tells you it's position is anything other than perfect it makes you panic - it does me anyway.
Very best of luck x

Hi best of luck :)

I had my little girl in the early hrs of tuesday morning and she was back to back. I was 2cm dilated for over a wk, had regular tightenings but would stop and start for over two wks and by the end they had got very painful, mainly in my back.

I was 39+1 and I only thought I may be in labour when my waters started leaking after a trip to the loo. The good thing about having tightenings for so long was that from 9pm to 1.30am I went from 2cm to 4cm then half hr later 6cm then 8cm then another half hour and I was pushing. She decided to turn and fully engage at the end. Still have a sore back but well worth every bit of pain I went through :)

Wish you all the best :)

Thank you all for your kind advice, it has been most helpful. Have been on all fours trying to turn baby...I have a feeling that baby will only turn if it wants to though!!!

Just hope that I manage an okay labour..And that I go into labour soon as I am well and truely fed up now and now need to give my bundle a cudddle...

Come on baby enagaged, turn around and come out

Thanks again xxx

I have to agree with you B0 - I tried every technique to get my dd to turn in the weeks leading up to labour. She was well and truly wedged into my cervix the wrong way round, confirmed by the midwife post birth. I think sometimes it can be more stressful trying so urgently to get them to turn if they don't want to ... My labour was hospitalised, long, with intervention and complications but it was also amazing.

Good luck to you, I hope you get what you want!