Posterior Position @ 37 weeks

[schmell]

Hi all,

Bit of background.....

I have just been for a checkup and was told that my bub is presenting posterior (facing towards my front with its back along my spine). My midwife was not very forthcoming with information, all she basically said was that bub still had time to roll over but it was very unlikely this far into my pregnancy. I have jumped on the net and had a read through some sites that talk about this and the complications that can be had during labour. Needless to say it has not put my mind at ease any :eek: !!

Now my questions.....

Has anyone had a bub that has presented posterior and turned before labour or in the early stages? What was this like?
Has anyone given birth to a posterior positioned baby with little or no medical intervention (By this I mean forceps, ventouse or ceasar)? What was this like?
Has anyone given birth to a posterior positioned baby with medical intervention and what was done? What was this like?

I would prefer not to have an epidural or ceasar but I guess if it turns out to be my only option then so be it. I wanted to try for a totally drug free labour this time around but I am wondering what my chances will be if bub doesn't rollover.

[Rell]

Hi There
My daughter was in the posterior position at my 36week check up but had turned sometime the following week as she was born at 37weeks round the right way. I do know of a friend who was in labour and they managed to turn the baby round by lying in certain positions. Sorry I can't remember what the positions were but hopefully someone else might. Hope your bub turns before birth as I have read it is much more painfull when the baby is posterior

[StormAngel]

hi

three of my bubs were posterier and didn't turn, they were hard work to deliver,and they were long hard(painfull) labours and ended in 2 forcep deliverys and 1 vaccum extraction, i was pretty much exsausted at the end.

My 4th bub was the same but turned while i was in labour (thank god) she was a very quick labour with just gas and pethadine!

I only had gas and pethadine for the oldest 3 as well but in hindsight i wish i had opted for the epidural that i was offered!

Unfortunatly i can't remember the positions that Rell was talking about either!

Good luck!!!
I hope your bub turns for you!

[Mumof2+1]

Hi,

My first bub was both posterier and breech when I went into labour. (full term)
Some time during labour she turned head down, but only turned from posterier whilst in the birth canal :eek: Was very painful, but I hadn't had any pain killers & by the time she was turning in the birth canal it was too late. My labour was only 2 1/2 hours in total, bub weighed 8lb 3 1/2oz & I didn't need any stitches. They didn't need to use forceps or vacume or anything but did monitor bub very closely during labour. I know I had it easy & things could of been alot worse but I hope my story gives you abit of pease of mind. Even if your bub doesn't turn, everything could go fine.
Best of luck.

Trish

[schmell]

Thank you for replying and for your well wishes. I am hoping that bubs turns by itself in the next week or so. Being bub no. 2 apparently everything usually happens later (ie. head engaging, turning etc.) I have found a couple of sites that show exercises you can do to 'encourage' the baby to roll over so I will check with my midwife and start doing some of these. The last thing I want is another long painful labour - 47.5 hours as intense from 1st contraction to the last with no.1 and never more than 10 minutes apart but never regular :eek: !!

However if it doesn't roll.......I have a couple more questions if you wouldn't mind sharing.....

jlk,

Did you feel your 4th turn during labour? If so, did it cause you more pain? And what does it entail when they use forceps and vacuum? Were your bubs born with 'coneheads' (sorry, don't know how else to put it)?

Sorry to rack your brains but this is the first 'abnormal' thing I have had in either pregnancy and although usually easygoing I think it was a bad idea for me to read up on posterior labours!! I think I am just terrified of everything going wrong :( !

[shellbell]

hi kelly

both of my babies were posterior during labour. my first was delivered after 2 hours of pushing and had to be pulled out by a ventouse (sorry for the "lovely" visual !!). i had pethidene with her and it was horrible because she got stuck behind my pubic bone. it was so bad that i was ready to ask for a caesar. finally bella was born, 7lb 8oz. the ventouse is a little rubber cap that is put on the baby's head, then attached to a vacuum hose so the ob can pull the baby out. i remember it being a bit painful, but after 2 hrs, i just wanted her out. she didn't have too much of a conehead, just a bit of a bump that was gone after about a week

when i was pregnant with my second, i tried everything to avoid him being posterior - spent hours a day on all fours or leaning over a beanbag from about 36 wks. all to no avail. he just didn't want to budge so i was like you and did a bit of research into posterior births. everything that i read said that epidurals are counter-productive because they can slow down labour and stop the baby from turning. he was posterior and brow presentation (where the head is flexed back instead of the chin being tucked down on the chest) but he sorted himself out as i was pushing and i finally gave birth to a 10lb4oz boy :eek: with no pain relief at all :eek: :eek: i was like you and pretty determined to go drug free so i just wanted to let you know that it can be done. i remember reading somewhere that you may have more success turning the baby once you are in labour, as opposed to before

sorry to go on, but i know how much you can start to worry as soon as you hear "your baby is posterior". i just wanted to let you know that its possible to give birth to a healthy posterior baby without drugs or intervention

good luck

[schmell]

Thanks Michelle.

I guess like anything it is comforting to know that someone has done it before me!!

I have a fairly high pain threshold so still want to try for a drug free birth - fingers crossed. My first was 6 pound 7.5 ounces so just a littlie - I think I will be safe from breaking even the eight pound weight range so size should make it a little easier.

Fingers crossed it rolls soon and I am worried for nothing!

[Kat]

Hi,
I wished I had known that my bub was posterior, I could have prepared a little better with a question similiar to yours.

My girl was over 10lbs and she was posterior. I had contractions from about 7am but became <5mins apart around 10am and then stayed pretty consistently close together (at least I know they were until I got drugged out by the epidural!)

From memory, the positions that help a posterior baby (in labour) are when your pelvis is uneven (to give them a chance to turn), sexy dancing lots of hip rotation, walking up stairs apparently, and also head-down bum in air type stuff (to take the pressure off their head and give them space to spin round). Just to let you know that I had NONE of these suggested to me by the midwives I had, nor did I remember them at the time because I was in too much pain (then again I also had an acute attack of colestatisis or whatever its called - basically passing gallstones which I can tell you now is worse than contractions!!)

I recently visited a midwife about VBAC and she said that posterior babies often are easier to deliver when it is a subsequent labour. (so thats the story according to one m/w)

Also I can't say that the pain from the contractions was that intolerable - the gallstone pain was another matter!

However having ended up with a caesarian (see the cascading interventions run) - I had an epidural and then CS about 4 hours later, and having seen the recovery of other Mums compared to mine, it seems that a vaginal birth is the way to go regardless of what seem like terrible interventions (e.g. forceps!) - after experiencing the trauma of labour then a caesarian I wish I had tried harder to deliver my girl vaginally regardless of the possible stitches / damage there. I've met ladies with bubs the same age as mine who had posterior babies with forceps and their recoveries and stories of how they were healing sound a lot more positive than what I experienced.

Having said that there is a terific story I read recently (either here or on Birthrites site) that goes into how one Mum really participated in the caesarian birth and was not treated like a 'patient' so if this is something that is important to you then make sure your carers know about it beforehand!

I found the attitude of the staff to be my greatest enemy in birthing my daughter. They were tragically condescending, to the point of being negative and also very defeatest in their approach, as though they expected a CS outcome and were just killing time until I woke up to myself and realised the inevitability of it all.

Don't get me wrong, if there is a genuine problem with your bub being in distress, of course a CS is imperitive, that was not the situation in my case - what happened was that the hospital had their idea of a time limit & their own concept of what was 'going on' with my labouring and they were hopelessly stuck in that rut.

What I can remember is that the midwives were all totally CONFUSED (apparently it is harder to find HB of posterior babies because you have to go across their shoulders; also they can't 'read' the signs of labour as well; the list goes on blah blah) - so make sure you feel you are doing what is right for you.

Also you do get the 'need to poo' urge to push long before the bub is actually THERE but its not that strong and I imagine seeing as you've birthed a baby already you'd know the difference when you get there!

I said no to vaginal examinations early on, perhaps my outcome would have been different if I hadn't done this. Certainly VE might help the midwives who then might help you more effectively.

Also I found that burning hot towels on my lower back was really all the pain intervention I needed right up until I was told not to push (when in hindsight I now know i should have) & in order not to push I was tensing up and basically causing myself more pain than the contractions alone - so then it got a bit hairy.

Ok. Well that is just how one very new mum experienced her posterior babies labour. For me the whole thing was pretty doomed as the midwife announced from an external exam minutes after our arrival at the hospital "you're baby is posterior" in this terrifying voice, as though he was announcing some major birth defect or somthing and the care just got worse from there.

So watch out for 'carers' who want to panic you more than is neccessary!

Good luck

Kat

[draught]

Hi
My first labour was 36 hours and she was posterior until she turned in the birth canal. I stayed drug free for the first 24 hours then had pethidine. At about 28 hours my doctor decided to put me on a syntocin drip to try and move things along as my contractions weren't regular at all, and he offered an epidural. I had gone in determined to be drug free but was so tired and sore I lept at the idea. The epidural wore off twice before they decided they needed to use the vacuum as I had been in second stage labour for 4 hours and just couldn't push anymore. So they topped up the epidural and tried the vacuum. When that didn't work they used forceps. By that stage I didn't care - I just wanted her out and safe. Her face was bruised from the forceps and her head was slightly cone shaped, but the shaping was gone by the next morning and the bruising was gone two days later. My main memories from labour are that it felt like my back was going to snap at times - I had my mother and husband taking turns at massaging, using heat packs and spent two hours in a warm bath. The epidural did not make me numb - I was still in a lot of pain, although it was considerably less than it had been. Despite that I did not cry, swear, yell etc throughout the whole labour.
To provide a comparison - number 2 was not posterior, and I was induced. The labour lasted 2 hours, I swore, cried, screamed, and was having an epidural at the time she delivered. If I had a choice I would chose the long slow posterior labour over that any day - with or without drugs.

With the first I felt that I had failed by not having a drug free labour, and by not being able to push her out myself. Something the midwife said afterwards put it in context for me - she told my mother that if we had been in a third world country both baby and I would have died. After that the bruises on my beautiful girl, and my sense of failure all seemed quite minor.

Good luck with it all and remember it is not how they get here that counts - it is the fact that they are here at all!

[StormAngel]

Hi Shmell

In answer to your questions, i didn't feel bub #4 turn, the midwife was as surprised as me!!

With my 2 forcep deliveries, they did an episiotomy (they give you a local anistetic first, so you dont feel it) and then as i pushed they pulled(not as gory as it sounds). i didn't find the pulling all that painful cause they only did it as i pushed, and it only took about 3 pushes once they started to use them! They had no obvious marks on them, just the normal swelling associated with birth!

With the vacumm, i had another episiotomy and they attach the vacumm to bubs head, don't know how to explain how it works, but you don't feel it as much as the forceps! once again it was only a couple of pushes once they started! Bub had a slight 'conehead' but it had gone back to normal by about day 2.

The first one was scary as i didn't know what to expect, but when it came to #2 & 3 it didn't worry me because i knew that once they started it would all be over soon!

I should add that these bubs were 8lb 4oz, 8lb 7oz & 7lb 15oz

good luck
let me know how you go!!!

[schmell]

Thank you all for the information.

After hearing that it is not such a terrible thing that "my baby is posterior" I feel better able to deal with it if bubs doesn't rollover before or during labour. I also have a few questions that I hadn't thought of asking my midwife about the hospital's policies - so to speak.

Once again thanks, you have helped to put my mind a little more at ease :) .

[alissa-mareesmum]

Hi, my baby was also posterior which is why i had 3 days of labour, my doctor told me that if i was at a private hospital they would not let the labour go on for that long and i would of had a ceaser. However i stuck it out and walked lots, tried all the weird and wonderful positions to sit and lie in to help move things along. I reckon i had legs of steele after squating during every contraction for 3 days straight. I would do those 3 days all over again if i had a choice. Alissa-maree was born healthy and happy she didn't cry and had her first breastfeed about 15mins after her birth. I did it all naturally and without any pain relief.

Also the first time i went into hospital at 3 in the morning and by 8 o'clock (same morning) not much had happened so by that stage myself, my partner and mum had little to no sleep for 3 days so the midwife sent me home with a seditive to let me sleep. I slept for 3 hours woke up went for a walk around our garden with my dad, went back inside to straddle some pillows to take the pressure off my back and my waters broke. At 10:42 that night i gave birth. So don't be affraid to take something (given to you by midwives/hospital) to help you sleep if you find you are having a long labour. I truly believe that my body needed that sleep to prepare for the dialating and birth.

Good luck and embrace the labour and birth experiece.

[schmell]

Hello all, thank you for the info you have given me....

I have a check-up tomorrow and have been having some very funny movements in my belly over the last day or two. My tummy was very tender on Sunday, even my shirt was irritating it. I am hoping that might have been bub stretching my belly while it was turning over.

Fingers crossed that it has turned for my peace of mind!! Only 2 weeks to go..... :eek:

[WeThree]

hi kelly, only 2 wks to go, how exciting! thomas was posterior and he didnt turn, i tried to push him out but his chin became stuck. i was given an epidural and they needed to use forceps to turn him around and pull him out. it wasnt as bad as it sounds as i had the epidural! good luck :)

[cleighsa]

hi there
i delivered my little girl posterior. she got stuck, was crowning for ages but just wouldnt come out. i tore and she had to pulled out with the ventuse (spelling??). she was 3950g, so reasonably large, so that probably added to the difficulty!!
she came out with a cone head, poor little chook. :eek: her head look sore but went down in a day, although she had little red sores right on the top of her head that took a little while longer to heal.
elliot is a wonderful and very adventurous little 9mth old now. :)
well good luck
let us know how it goes
leighsa

[babyjode]

YOU POOR THING
m ay was posterior but then he went to normal then the little bugger dcided to go back the day i went into labour, therefor i gave birth to a posterior baby, The only complications is really a VERY long and VERY painfull labour, But long labours cause complications, My labour was 27 and hal hours long and very painful (spose in a way they all are but i read up on the net bout it and thy said it extra painfull) i gave up and had a epidural for the last 2hours but if i had my time over agian i would have an epidural as early as posible.

But the best way to get bubi in the right position is Sit leaning forward, watch tv on all fours and scub the floor on you all fours. It worked for me but i didnt continue doing it after he went into the right place thats why he went back.

[2under2]

Hi Schmell,

Both my babies were posterior and neither turned for delivery. My first I had gas and pethidine and a vacuum (with episiotomy - ouch :eek: ) was needed as she was stressing out. At the time I had nothing to compare it too but the gas took the edge off. She did have a bad bruise on her head and a bit of a cone (but I reckon that was cause I was pushing so hard with no movement on her part!!) The bruise went after a couple of days. Looking back now I think the whole delivery was pretty rushed once she started to stress - they cut me and yanked bubs out as quick as they could :( but she was healthy which was the main thing I guess!! My 2nd was induced (much bigger baby) and I was able to get by with lots of heat packs and the hot hot shower - when it really got going I used the gas. Still had to use vacuum (was stuck as well) but my wonderful ob helped me pant bubs out so only needed a couple of stitches and no cut (Yay!) He only had a very slight bruise and was much more alert after arriving. Maybe cause no pethidine this time?? Good luck with the rest of your pg and your big day ahead! 2under2 :)

[schmell]

Went for my check up and the "lovely" (I use that term oh so loosely) midwife that I saw this week (don't know where my normal one was) didn't even mention bubs was posterior until I asked and she said "yeah, I think so". Oh how re-assuring not to mention informative!! She did make a huge deal about mentioning that they can use vacuum, forceps or I can have a cs as the hospital has the facilities for all these things if I have any trouble during labour and had I thought about how I would feel if any of these things had to occur. Well I have and I told her that I would rather try for a natural birth rather than rush straight for intervention (to which she replied by snorting at me). So in short, bubs is still posterior and from what she was saying it doesn't seem likely that it will turn. Apparently has started to really drop into my pelvis now although still not engaged (it was also like pulling teeth to extract that from her!!).

I didn't have a birth plan for my first but I am seriously considering scribbling one down for this labour as the hospital seems to be gung-ho about intervening and shortening my labour as soon as possible (which I guess means as soon as I let them).

I am still counting on bubs rolling over but I am not holding my breath....

Sorry to ramble but I am still a little disillusioned by my appointment. I have had a few negative vibes about birthing at this hospital and the whole posterior thing seems to be a horror for them to contemplate so the vibes are getting stronger. I might jump on the phone to other fairly close hospitals and see if I can have a talk to one of the midwifes and see if they might not be so clinical. Worth a try, I guess...

Thanks again to everyone for your replies.

[Kat]

Kelly,

I am totally following your bad vibes about your hospital. This is soooo what happened to me..

finding out information in the weeks coming up to my DD birth was like pulling teeth - yes she's in the right place descent wise, no she isn't engaged...also I kept asking my ob "Is she round the right way and he'd go "everything is fine" rather than "no she's posterior!"

Then when I got to the hospital they were totally gung-ho about time frames about how traumatic they thought posterior was etc etc.

I ended up with being told not to push when I wanted to (without them finding out what was really going on - my version of 'push' was 'let go' or relax to let my cervix open up more - but being a first timer I didnt have the words (contractions and complicaitons - didn't leave much room for chit chat)

Anyway I say "go forth and find alternatives' as I think the poor vibes and the negativity from the hospital caused me to have the caesarian that neither of us needed (no distress- just their stupid timetables)

They were even less communicative in labour than they were beforehand..

I am reading about Mum who got to labour for 26 ++ hours to deliver their posterior babies..I was not given that option and cut open after only 23 hours of solid labouring.

Of course being your second I'm sure you'll be more in control than I was and you'll know what you feel and probaby not take **** from them, but to me I'd trust your vibe and try elsewhere or as you say - write a birthplan.

goodluck, I am sure you'll do fine - I don't think posterior bub is as bad as midwives make it out to be (even though mine went wrong it was long and painful but it was the lack of care and support that did me in, not the labouring)

love Kat

[schmell]

Bubs still posterior but I am not letting myself worry about it as I have now written my birth plan and taken that into account so if it turns - GREAT. If it doesn't then so be it. I can do it!! And I will not be letting the midwives intervene unless absolutely necessary. I have made sure to tell my support people my wishes too. And I have told them (DP & my Mum) they had better voice them if I can't or they will have to deal with a very unhappy me afterwards - trust me I can be scarier than speaking up to a pushy midwife :eek: !!

As for the bad vibes about the hospital...... I have also found out that another hospital close to us can book me in on the spot if I am in labour and show up there so I am thinking I may bypass the hospital I am booked into and go to the other one as I have only heard good things about their delivery and maternity wards.

The only thing about that is I will have never met any of the birthing staff and I won't have time to go on the delivery suite tour, this makes me a little uneasy as I will never have set foot in that hospital. I guess now I have to way up how I feel about the hospital I am booked into and the "on-the-spot" book in and go from there. I am pretty sure I will stick with the devil I know as I am a creature of habit and I will have my plan and 2 very determined support people with me!!

Once again, thank you to every one who has shared their stories and helped me not to worry too much about which direction this stubborn little grub is going to be born facing!!

[LyndalT]

this is totally off the subject, but i did notice that we have the same postcode.. and I am due on the 28th.. fingers crossed she will come early!
which hopsital are you having your baby in? we may be in at the same time! :p

[shellbell]

hi everyone,

i've just been reading the last few posts about "bad vibes" from the hospital and i find it really interesting. i've had 2 posterior births, the first i didn't know about until i was in labour. i was really worrried about my second baby being posterior so i did lots of research like everyone else. i also did shared care with my gp (an older doc) and the outpatients clinic at the rbwh. from about 32 weeks, my gp would tell me at every checkup about the position of bub - he's the one who first mentioned posterior. I had a few checks with the midwives and also with OBs and not one of them mentioned the baby being posterior.

anyway, my point is ...

shouldn't health carers be arming us with as much information as possible so that we can attempt to minimise intervention in the birth process, rather than "trying not to worry us" with these scary scenarios ??

it just seems stupid to me ... :confused:

[schmell]

Hi all,

Just thought i'd pop in and update....4 days until my EDD :D !

Went for another check up on Thursday. Bubs is still posterior and still not engaged (although I am assured this is normal for 2nd babies). The midwife I saw yesterday was fantastic, really forthcoming with information and quite happy to tell me the delivery suites policies on posterior births (she was relieving for my middy, who was sick, and she actually normally works in deliveries). Being that it is my second bub and I pushed the first one out naturally, they will be quite happy to let me try and push this one out with as little intervention as possible - all I have to do is tell them that is what I want to try for when I get there.

It is amazing how someone actually giving you answers when you ask questions can make you feel a whole lot better about something that 2 midwives from the same hospital spoke about like it was the end of the world.

I do have a plan B in place too now (well, at least in my own head), just in case......

[our little treasures]

Oh dear!!!

My dd was posterior although noone told me so not sure if she turned last minute my obs just reassured me that she was engaged and I thought I was set!!!
Anyway I had a lot of pushover staff who threatened all sorts of things to get me to do cs but I refused point blank. Now 31 weeks with 2nd and I have done research this time even though baby is in right position. My first was text book to posterior, waters broke before contractions started, severe pain in the back, long drawn out what they called 33hrs labour even though we went through it all for 39hrs. In the end on day 2 I asked for the gas and peth although it had worn off by the time she entered the world, I also needed ventrouse as she just wouldn't turn- she had a huge scab on her head for 2 weeks but no cone head!!
Stay positive as you will know whats best. Also as I have found out sit with your bum on a pillow and make sure your knees are lower than your bum as this helps the baby turn into position, getting on all fours and watch tv for 10 mins as this helps too. When your in labour if bubs is still in posterior try not to lay on the bed all fours will help. I only wish I'd found this out.

Good luck make sure you let us know how you go. :)

[schmell]

Hello everyone,

Well the little terror turned sometime during labour and came out the "right" way!!

All that worry for nothing. But, better to be informed and not have to use that information then not know at all!!

Thanks for all your answers!!

[red crayon]

Hi everyone, mine was posterior birth too, although I didn't know it until the contractions started. The contractions are felt around your back and can be pretty painful. My ob and midwive were fantastic and tried to turn Spencer around but not no avail. He started to descend and then got stuck. I ended up having a epidural block and being prepped in case I needed a caesar. My ob used the vaccuum and with me pushing was able to deliver Spencer without needing a caesar. Spencer had a conehead and a fair bit of bruising but this all disappeared pretty quickly.

[shellbell]

[SIZE=4]Congratulations Kelly !!!!!


all that worrying for nothing ... ;)

and i love the name