Back to back babies

[GoodNewsTwo]

31 weeks pregnant and baby is back to back. Placenta is anterior and I've learned that this makes it less likely for baby to turn.

Would really like to have as few interventions as possible during childbirth, of course unless they are absolutely necessary.

Has anyone had a straightforward birth with a b2b baby? Or should I be preparing myself for episiotomy/ventouse/forceps etc?

My birth story is a little bit of an odd one as after 2 hours of pushing I had a scan and they saw my DS was trying to come out sideways, which is pretty much impossible! So I was asked to lie on my side for an hour and see if he would move, he did and went back to back. After that I pushed him out within an hour, no assistance, no drugs, no nothing and it was fine. One of my husbands best birth memories was his little nose coming out (though I did ask him to stay away from the business end, the midwife insisted!).
Despite DS being a bit of a pickle I remember my birth being great, so hopefully it's ok for you.

I also had an anterior placenta and a back to back baby (Occiput posterior -Op is the technical term)

He was OP from 20 weeks right up to the end.

Unfortunately I wasn't encouraged to move about in labour (I was wired up and lay on a bed the entire 22 hours) and after a couple of hrs of pushing, his head wasn't able to birth through my pelvis (the OP position means the wider part of the head pushes on your cervix which can make it difficult for it to open up fully)

Try to go on all fours or sit on a birthing ball if you can to help spin the baby to an OA (non back to back) position.

Take a look at this: spinningbabies.com

*my birth ended in c section. But I'm fairly confident if I had been more aware about getting him to spin to OA (that and being told to push before I was fully dilated... New midwife) I think would have been able to birth him naturally.

I had a c section for a back to back baby. The positioning was preventing the head bearing down on the cervix, so I didn’t dilate.

I didn't realise my baby was back to back (he arrived 4 weeks early) or I would have been on the birth ball and scrubbing floors to try and shift him round. I had an anterior placenta as well.

As it was, early labour was quite painful as the pain seemed to settle in my back between contractions. Not fun, but manageable. I moved around a lot and found labouring on my side most productive. Lower back massage helped (a did pethidine!) . However he turned of his own volition sometime after active labour started, and was born within the hour.

You have plenty of time to get yours moving, or they may do so on their own. You could check the website spinning babies for tips.

Sorry, forgot to add that no assistance needed in the birth.

Thanks everyone. Stories from women who have been there before are absolutely priceless - really, thank you!

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a c section. I won't be gutted if I have to have one, but I would rather avoid one if I could. The same with other interventions. I'll do whatever I have to do for a safe birth - my preference is just to do it naturally.

Have never heard of spinning babies so will definitely have a look!

Mine was back to back when I was three cm dilated so was sent home as ‘not In proper labour’! Born less then three hours later, delivered by paramedics so no idea if she changed position but I gave birth in kneeling position which seemed to help. So take it with a pinch of salt if they insist back to back makes labour longer it doesn’t always

Oh I hope it doesn't make labour longer! I have never had a baby before so have no idea what to expect. Getting nervous...

My first was not back to back but the my next 3 were. I also had an anterior placenta with one of the back to back babies. Not really any different to be honest. I had normal deliveries with no assistance. Two turned as they came out one was born stargazing as the midwife called it!
I didn't have any stitches and one of them was 10lb8 I had such good midwives though.

My labours weren't any longer either.

I had an anterior placenta and baby went b2b at around 36weeks. From then on I didn't sit or lie in any position that was less than upright (dining chairs, birth ball etc) and did lots of time on all fours each day. Baby did move back to where he'd been previously (ROT) after a few days, and then to the left prior to labour. Still didn't recline on the sofa again though! It feels amazing to be able to now.

I gave birth last week to a back to back baby. I had a suspicion he would be, as my contractions kept switching from being all around, to just being in my back constantly and I'd never had back contractions with my other 2, who weren't back to back. I'd gone into hospital at 4cm and had asked for epidural straight away, so can't say much for the pain as I honestly found it manageable up until then anyway.

Midwife only actually realised he was back to back when she checked me at 10cm! All was absolutely fine though, pushed for about 20 minutes, no tears or need for stitches and no other issues. It did more than likely slow my labour down (6hrs) as my other 2 were very quick, but that turned out to be a blessing anyway as gave me time for an epidural etc. All in all I really didn't feel the labour experience varied much at all from my other 2

Two of my three were back to back. Interestingly they also had anterior placentas so perhaps there is a link.

It made the labour 20x more agonising than the one who wasn’t back to back. I’m not saying that to frighten you but it was a fact. The contractions never ended, I never had breaks between them. I was writhing around in pain after 12 hours with DC1 literally crying out for an epidural. That labour did result in forceps but it was due to shoulder dystocia, unsure whether that’s linked to back to back deliveries or not. DC3 I had no assistance though.

Mine was back to back and no one realised until she came out.
Labour was only 3 hours and I'm not going to lie it was horrendously painful but I only had gas and air and paracetamol.
No interventions needed and just a minor tear which healed well.

I had a back to back baby but wasn't told this until I was in labour. My placenta was also anterior. I had a natural delivery, my labour was slow to progress so had it augmented with a Synto drip but was also being treated for sepsis during labour
My baby turned during labour and I had no interventions or need for stitches.

My labour was b2b - he was in a really good position literally until my waters broke and was then b2b! My labour was slow to progress after my waters broke but then all happened v quickly (my dh nearly missed it as he'd been sent home as I wasn't dilated). Pain was bad but I didn't even have gas and air for most of it as midwife didn't believe I was actually in labour. I think try to keep yourself in "optimum" positions and not stress. A lot can happen in terms of position between now and labour - when in labour I was most comfortable leaning forward whilst sitting on the loo

Just had a scan and mine is back to back. Im 35 weeks and my back has been agony this week. My placenta is anterior as well!

My dd2 was back to back. Didn't know until I was 8cm and it was no different to my other dd who wasn't. I'm going to try everything to move this baby but only because of how painful it is now.

My first was b2b with an anterior placenta. I had no clue until I started pushing and the midwife realised that was why my contractions were slowing. I didn’t find contractions too bad. I used a TENS machine and later the pool. When not in the water I stood against the wall, worked great. I just used G&A in the pool. I went from 3cm to 10cm in less than 4 hours.
Pushing was a bit different I think and I was at it for about 2 hours. My midwife was excellent and had me pushing in loads of different positions to turn DD. Eventually she did turn (after lots of pushing while squatting), she was born soon after. Small first degree tear. Honestly I thought afterwards that it wasn’t so bad and I could do that again.
I should add that I had a lot of stop start contractions in the days before I went into labour, apparently another feature of b2b babies/labour.
I’m 35+4 with my second and this one will not stay in a single position!

I've found this thread so interesting,

@Tilliebean, I had no idea that stop/start contractions were common in B2B labour. I was sent home from the hospital twice with stop/start contractions! Eventually my DH insisted on us staying and a 30 hr B2B labour followed. For me, it felt like I needed to do a massive poo, all the contractions were in my back. Ended up with delivery in theatre (pushed for 2 hrs no success), then had an episiotomy & forceps + Neville barnes manoeuvre to get him out.

OP, I recommend spinning babies too! I only found out my DS was B2B during labour, knowing well before gives you a good chance to move baby :)

That's fascinating about stop/start contractions and slow labour being features of b2b babies-i had 2 days of stop start contractions and a 30 hour labour! Sorry OP don't mean to scare you.
Highly reccomend hypnobirthing if you havnt considered it already.

I knew for most of my pregnancy that I had an anterior placenta, and it turned out that my baby was back to back during labour.

I hated the latent phase, but once I was finally admitted to hospital, given a painkiller (codeine?) and sitting in the birthing pool, my labour felt much easier. The midwives were concerned that I wasn't having enough contractions and wasn't in enough pain. My progress slowed down, so a midwife broke my waters, which did ramp up the contractions. They were still bearable with pain relief, though. I never had back pain; my contractions were in my bump.

Unfortunately, I didn't progress past 8cm and became exhausted. The doctor thought the problem was the position of the baby and her size in relation to me, so I had a c-section. My recovery was much easier than I'd feared, although I did have problems with breastfeeding initially, as my milk was slow to come in. I'm happy with how things turned out, so please don't worry too much (easier said than done, I know).

Not sure that spinning babies has any evidence base whatsoever. I would research it carefully before using.

Mine was back to back and I didn’t know/wasn’t told until I was in labour. When I asked they just said it’s more painful in the back, I found very little respite between contractions as the pain stayed in my back and I also had a constant urge to poo lol (I don’t know if this is just how labour is).

But aside from all the above it was a straight forward birth, I gave birth on my knees resting on the head of the bed which was upright, sitting/laying just made it unbearable

I hear so many things from so many different people. One consultant told me that my baby is likely to stay in a head down position now and it's unlikely it will move, sonographer told me this is wrong and they are babies move all the time in third trimester, midwife told me a baby will just stay where it wants and trying to get it to move is a bit of a myth. I have no idea what to believe anymore...