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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Anterior Placenta Experiences

34 replies

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:05

Tell me if it makes a big difference with your pregnancy. I have the most severe backaches which didnt happen with DDs (both posterior placenta) and it almost feels like the baby is sitting on my lower back. Sometimes I have the worst sciatica as well.He moves when I sit on the birthing ball though.
Is anyone else with an anterior placenta having these horrible backaches?

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BelieveInLife · 22/02/2011 12:20

I've had anterior placenta in 2 pregnancies and I haven't experienced any backache.

It's made no difference at all, other than that it took a little longer to feel movement and the movements are cushioned by the placenta.

I would think your backache is unrelated to your placenta.

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:22

Thats a relief Believe! A woman at work gave me a specch yesterday about how posterior babies caused the most backache and she convinced me I was going to have a back to back labour because of the anterior position. Just the usual scaremongering then

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Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:24

Speech even

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 12:29

If you have an anterior placenta, it's much, much more likely that your baby will be OP (back to back) as they tend to face the placenta. But it's not guaranteed.

I had an anterior placenta and obviously had the cushioned movements. But dd was op (they warned it was a possibility with an anterior placenta), it caused sciatica and back ache (I saw a pregnancy physio) and moved as far as ot in labour. She was never oa.

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:32

Was it a very difficult labour Showof and did you do anything in the last weeks to get her to move? Apparently they may move from OP with a few excercises.

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 12:42

I'm really not the person to ask about difficult labours gysela . I'm not going to tell you what happened because you're worried and it sounds like you hear 'scare' stories anyway. I don't want you to be needlessly frightened because dd's birth was what it was and who knows why.

There are plenty of babies that stay op and are born without issues. Many women report no more difficulties with an op labour than an oa labour.

I had a debrief following dd's birth and the obstetric consultant was very clear that there are no rules. That dd's position wasn't the way it was because I did or didn't do the recommended exercises, that the progression of labour and delivery was not something that was ever going to be as simple as a+b = c.

Your baby might not be op. It might be op and turn. It might be op and stay there and delivery is straightforward. There is just no way of knowing.

I know pregnant women hate unsolicited advice but I'm going to wade in anyway. Whatever happens with your dc's birth, it is largely down to fate. You don't get it 'wrong', you don't 'fail'. This bit is out of our hands. In the vast majority of cases your body knows what to do. And if it doesn't manage it, then there are doctors who also know what to do. Plan for the birth you want, accept that you can only hope for it and take each decision as it comes.

And chat to your midwife. They can feel if your baby's op for you!

Have you seen a physio?

EauRouge · 22/02/2011 12:44

I have an anterior placenta in this pregnancy and my MW said that it's not more likely to cause a back-to-back labour. DC2 is head down with his/her back on my left hand side, facing slightly backwards. Hopefully I'll be able to let you know in a few days how the labour went

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:48

Great advice! No physio yet. I went to see an osteopath after my GP sent me home with paracetamol and nothing else Whatever she did worked for a few days but the pain is back again. Its worst at night and my midwife's advice is to use a hot water bottle. Does bugger all.

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 12:50

I've just done a quick search for the stats and studies show that there is a significantly increased chance of an op baby when your placenta is anterior. BUT it's still more likely that your baby will be oa, regardless of where your placenta is.

And bear in mind that babies turn around in labour as well so where they are in pregnancy isn't a guarantee for where they are during delivery.

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:51

Please do let me know Eau. I know its still early days for me (13 weeks to go) and like Show said my body will know how to cope in the end, but there is always a part of us that wants to know. Isnt there

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 12:51

You can self refer to the pregnancy physio here. The one I saw was brilliant. She gave me a support band, exercises and fiddled with my back a bit.

Phlebas · 22/02/2011 12:55

I've had two with anterior placentas (out of 5) - with dd1 it was high anterior, almost over the fundus & I felt movements pretty early for first pregnancy (about 17 weeks); with ds2 it was low anterior & I hadn't felt anything by 17 weeks (it was a v. complicated pregnancy & we ended up losing him to IUGR & placental dysfunction).

Unfortunately I did have the 'typical' OP labour with dd1 - pre labour rupture of membranes, head very poorly positioned leading to ineffective pressure on cervix which didn't dilate beyond 6cm despite strong contractions & long (>33 hours) proper labour. It was very painful, classic back labour with no let up at all between contractions - had a section at 36 hours because I had an infection from the prolonged rupture of membranes & DD wasn't coping at all well. When I had the section her head was still very high. All my others have been elective sections

I did OFP for weeks & had a completely un-medicated active labour in a midwife unit but in the end you can try your best but it just comes down to luck.

WincyEtNightie · 22/02/2011 12:56

I had an anterior placenta with both my DC. Didn't feel movement with either until well over 20 weeks but that was the only "symptom".

DD was possibly slightly OP (midwife said something about her "turning" just as she crowned (ouch!) but was still an "easy" labour at 5 hrs.

DS was stargazing at 36 weeks but had turned before the birth and labour was 1 hour in total!

I had a lot of scans & consultant appts with DS due to various issues with my own health but, bar checking that it was high, nobody ever commented on the position of the placenta or implied it might cause problems.

Good luck!

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 12:56

I didnt realise I could self refer! Have to do some research on the ones around here. TBH my GP and midwife have been very dismissive of the pain and keep telling me its normal pregnancy pain. I know its not, because I've had two others and although there was backache it wasnt this bad.

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Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 13:01

Thanks Wincy Just proves that each labour is different. I will try not to think too much about the labour now. But I do need to get some relief from the sciatica and back ache

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 13:11

My sil's op labour was easier than her oa labours btw. I suspect they don't warn about the chance of an op baby when your placenta is anterior because there's always a chance of an op baby so it's not a peculiar risk iyswim. I was only told because I specificially asked.

Phlebas. Is PROM linked to op? I had prom (and the labour you described though I did get to fully dilated after a couple of days and an 8hr 2nd stage before emcs). The back to back contractions, are they a feature of op labour too? Did yours have a peak to them? Or was the intensity the same throughout the contractions?

gysela if you did read that, I'm also here to tell you that there are some lovely drugs if you do have a longer labour or it's sore.

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 13:16

Ooops too late! Read it . Would like to hear Phlebas answer though.

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 13:26

I promise you dd's delivery was more complicated than back to back. She was asynclitic (nowt to do with being op). The length of it was not directly attributable to her being op. Some women don't even know their baby is op until they pop out facing the wrong way!

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 13:46

Is that when their head is tipped towards the shoulder? Sure sounds more complicated than OP!

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ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 13:51

Yup, ear first as well as OT in the end. Premature rupture of membranes, caput, poor descent. She was doing her own thing entirely. Nowt to do with the op position in pregnancy/early labour. Gawd only knows why. She's 3.9 now and exactly the same. Why wear a coat when you can put it on upside down like a cape and jab the cat with a stick light sabre whilst screeching 'use the force furry one' (this is EXACTLY what she is doing at this moment in time). Does things her own way. She started as she meant to go on I think.

ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 13:52

She's wearing a beret too. Just to complete the picture.

weefriend · 22/02/2011 13:57

ShowOfHands
I've just done a quick search for the stats and studies show that there is a significantly increased chance of an op baby when your placenta is anterior. BUT it's still more likely that your baby will be oa, regardless of where your placenta is.

That's actually very reassuring, thanks for that! My first was an anterior placenta and back to back (OP? What does OP stand for?) and it didn't go well. My second was not an anterior placenta and pretty much a perfect VBAC. I'm now pregnant with my 3rd and have an anterior placenta again so another OP(?) labour is worrying me a bit. Reassuring to know that it's still more likely that it won't be.

gysela I agree with the above. What will be will be. All you can do is be armed with knowledge about what your options are esp with pain relief. You've had babies before so I think you'll know if you need it. My OP baby was my first so I thought the pain was just normal labour pain. Now I've had another I know it wasn't!

ShowOfHands · 22/02/2011 14:01

OP means occipito posterior. Likewise OT is occipito transverse and oa is occipito anterior. Where their back is aligned.

Phlebas · 22/02/2011 14:05

yeah - PROM is more common with an OP presentation & if you do PROM you have a greater chance of head mal-positions which makes the whole thing more complicated. Also when you have a PROM there is the clock ticking for delivery & risk of infection. Infection was the reason given for my section but I think by that point it was obvious she wasn't coming out any other way. I had a brief trial of synto but the problem was head not in the right place rather than not contracting properly so the synto didn't do anything other than give dd a couple of very scary long bradycardias, at which point I said 'enough, c-section now'.

I did get peaks in contractions to start with and the contractions seemed effective, I got very quickly to 5cm dilated, but the pain didn't really go away between them. For the last 15 hours or so it was pretty much continuous with no peaks though - I didn't dilate at all throughout that whole time.

dd2's head was extremely high (they thought she was breech to start with - I had to go off for a scan while contracting - because they couldn't feel much through the cervix) and they had huge problems getting a scalp electrode on. When she was delivered her face was completely battered & there was some discussion about whether it had been a deep transverse arrest but they never really decided either way.

OP births can be completely straight forward - my brother was born direct OP, stargazing 5 hours start to finish, un-medicated home birth.

Original poster

gysela · 22/02/2011 14:10

lol at 'use the force furry one' She must be a joy to have around

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