Occiput or cephalis posterior

[Grizabella]

As the title may indicate I am looking for people's stories on posterior births etc and the chances of getting a baby to turn.

This little fella is currently head down, but posterior, with his back turned out a little anterior on my RHS (if you are facing my belly).

I have a LH lying placenta which is at the front of my belly as well. (again LHS if you are facing my belly)

I was wondering if the positioning of the placenta could be affecting the little guy from turning? And my chances of him shifting before term (I am 33w4d).

Have looked at the spinning babies website and plan to use a couple of methods listed there, but are there any other tips you can think of to help him move?

TIA
Jude



ETA please excuse the typo in the title!

[kristi001]

Hey :wave:

I have No Advice on how to turn Your bub but will say that My son was Born posterior due to the little bugger just Not turning!

I also Had a Low lying placenta

I had a drug free labour lying on my Back.

It wasnt until after Harrison was Born that Midwives told me that that they reccommend Not being on Your back with a posterior Birth.

Apparently Its alot more Painful while lying on your back with a Posterior birth!

So That My Only Suggestion For YOu darling!

Goodluck!!

:hugs:

[Shanaynay]

At the moment I would suggest to avoid relaxing on your back with your feet up.
Try to lean forward when watching TV or whatever, with your forearms resting on your thighs, and your belly between your knees, iykwim.
Hope your bub turns :fingerscrossed:

[3cherubs]

I had my DD on the 22nd of August and she was Posterior up until the last 10 mins of my birth( that is when the 2 O/B's turned up ready to suck her out.. I had a natural one too. I only found out she was Posterior when i went to the hospital, as i was in labour. I only had a scan the previous week and she ws laying sideways with bum up.

All i can say is that NO position i tried really helped, i tried: standing, sitting on birth stool, toliet and on knees holding on back of bed. My back hurt the whole time, the back was worse than contractions and pushing.

But she did turn , just on her time shedule that is:no:
My DD2 was posterior when i went into labour, but she turned during the pushing stage.:yelclap:

So, they do turn....

[Rainbowbrite]

Totally agree with Phineas. Spend as much time as possible leaning forward, or even better, on your hands & knees.

I gave birth to my DD posterior. She stayed that way throughout labour, & I also birthed on my back. My labour was only 6.5 hrs, would have been alot quicker if I was upright or leaning forward over the bedhead, beanbag etc. Bue like kristi001 I wasn't told that till AFTER bub was born.

[stellarella]

33 weeks is very early to be worrying about your baby being posterior. They continue to move around well into the 40th week or if you are anything like me well into the 42nd week and well into labour.

My experience with a posterior labour is that it was very long and the contractions were intense right from the get go because my babies head was not pressing on my cervix effectively. Therefore my uterus had to work double time to dilate without any help from my babies head...iykwim. I went to 14-19 days post dates because again, my babies head was not pressing on my cervix effectively.

I had a very long second stage where he finally turned on his way down the birth canal. Its really important to be upright in the second stage, its what really saved me.

Some of the positions and excercises mentioned above are worth doing in the last few weeks of pregnancy and while you are in labour however dont make it the focus of your life becuase I did them all too and unfortunately nothing worked.

If your baby is still posterior when you go into labour then conserve your energy because you will need it. Expect your labour to be very long...sometimes they go for days (mine was 36 hours of established labour and 12 or so of early labour)...but if you are one of the lucky ones who has a quick posterior labour then it will be a bonus!

Good luck to you.

Oh BTW, I had a vaginal birth...having a posterior birth doesnt mean you need a c/sec just in case anyone tries to tell you otherwise. Apparently OP is a favorite reason for a c/sec. If you want a VB you can have one. Get yourself a doula or a great care provider and be active in labour...upright upright upright!

:wave:

[pickles]

My baby ( second) was posterior and oblique ( his head was sitting in over to the right hip instead of in my pelvis.). this was until around 24 hours pre birth. I did lots of squatting that day to try and move him into the pelvis as i was booked for an ARM for post dates the next night. had the ARM at 7.30 pm , had two contractions and actually felt him rotate to the right.
1.5 hours later he was born , semi squatting , a bit of gas and 9pounds. No back pain so was deinetly not a posterior labour.

with my first however i was paranoid about a posterior labour and from 34 weeks i always sat forward on the couch , all fours with the fit ball and even had a bolster in the car so that i was always upright and forward. had a lovely 5 hour labour no back pain.

good luck

Pickles
DD 02/03
DS 03/05

[Bron]

Get crawling girl!! In the last few weeks of my pregnancy I crawled all the time, and spent most of the day on my knees, leaning my arms on the coffee table, reading a book or watching DVDs. Hamish was never posterior, but I was so determined that he wouldn't be (I'm a dork, I know).

Oh, and my sister's second baby was posterior, born posterior, at home, no drugs, 9lbs 9. So it can be done.

[BeautifulBoys]

My bub was OP I reached 10cms but his head was de-flexed & transerve.. ended up with caesar...:thumbsdown:
So try & keep really active help turn the bub... as i was not active.

[abiishu]

Hi there Catalyst :wave:

My bub is posterior too, so I am hoping to get her turned around before going into labour.

I did not find the spinning babies site that helpful, seemed to have more info on turning breech than posterior bubs.

Here are some sites with specific information on posterior presentation that I found more useful:

http://www.aims.org.uk/Journal/Vol12No2/posterior.htm

http://www.mother-care.ca/pos_pain.htm

There is also a technique that can be done to encourage the baby to turn, it is called a diaphragmatic release. It should be explained on one of those sites, if not just PM me and I will track down the info and send it to you.

Hope that helps :)
Sending you some baby turning dust :babydust2:

[HoopDeeDoo]

I had DS2 naturally, he was posterior, but also very small as he was prem. But my labour started and stopped for 30 hrs after my waters broke. I laboured sitting backwards on a chair the whole time, until I acually started pushing, and then I got up on the bed and pushed half sitting up and lying down.

I'd suggest crawlimg too! There was a good website called baby spinning or something like that, sorry I can't remember exactly, but someone around here might know what I'm talking about

Also just wanted to say you have the most beautiful baby belly I have ever seen, you look fabulous :D

ETA well there you go I knew there would be somone with more helpful info :)

[Grizabella]

Thanks guys! All your stories and advice are really helpful!

I have been proactive today and replaced my desk chair with a fitball -and have been rocking back and forth on it as I sit. It's kinding soothing! :laughing:

Also have started doing pelvic tucks in the shower (which DP thought was hilarious when he came accross me starkers in the shower on all fours tilting my pelvis!!! :laughing:

Those sites you gave me are great Springpetal - thanks for that. It's funny how the rocking felt right - and then it was mentioned in the artivle to do so! Hope your bubs also turns soon!

HoopDeeDoo - Thankyou! I am quite the roundy at the moment! Looks like I have swallowed a fit ball! But it is hard on my back - I have bad sciatica this time round - which is why the thought of posterior is not the most pleasant! More back pain on top of pre-existing back pain - great fun for labouring!

Stella - the chances of me being talked into a c/sect are pretty bloomin low! I am not one to argue with - so I think they will give up on the suggestion once I tell them what to do with the idea! :laughing:

[Seekrit]

Cobes was posterior throughout my pregnancy and labour (RHS too!) although I had a Posterior placenta too.. bubblies like to face the placenta so if you have an Anterior one, you're more likely to have a pos. bub.

Anyway, I had waves of backpain throughout labour, they hurt a lot. :( Nothing in the front.
I still went on to have a drug & intervention free birth (well, gas)

Stay off your back in labour. Do not let anyone put you there. I started on my back and soon rolled onto my side (left side, as advice from midwife) and put a massive hospital issue heat pack on my back... the difference was HUGE I felt him turn ot the front (a week or three of crawling didn't help for me btw)

Good luck! :D It's not as horrid as it sounds, although it can be more painful you CAN DO IT! My mum birthed me (I was flat on my back "star gazer") in only a few hours.

[Teto]

Hi there,
My placenta was anterior too, and I was worried that bub would end up posterior (on the theory that his belly button faced the placenta etc) but he didn't. So everything might be cool by the time of the birth. I did also spend LOTS of time leaning forward, hands and knees, forward yoga poses etc in the last several weeks. And every time I woke up I rolled over onto elbows and knees to flop 'im into place, haha.

[fai firinne]

Great if you can encourage bub to move anterior - but sometimes it just doesn't happen and an anterior placenta can be one reason why. Various techniques to encourage an anterior position, particularly as they encourage posture that is ideal for a pregnant or labouring woman anyway, won't hurt and could help. The Chiropractic 'Webster Technique' has had some good successes, too.

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/position.html

But if you start labour and bub is still firmly posterior, all is not lost! It is still a good head-down position - to birth a posterior or a breech baby vaginally is do-able. Any birth can benefit from keeping upright and active and getting gravity on your side but especially posterior labours. Water - birth pool or shower - also seems to be very helpful for many women - both for comfort and pain relief and also for helping you move freely as your instinct prompts you.

It has been wonderful to hear of some excellent success stories with posterior labours. With good support and encouragement, it's do-able.

Some babies turn during labour and some babies are born face up!