Left or right? Does it matter that much?

[{sarah}]

I just wondered if an LOA presentation is absolutely the best position for baby & why. At the moment little girl is persistently on my right, anterior, head down & has been for some time, but still high & floating. Everything I read is about how to make bub turn to be anterior, but nothing says how to get bub from right to left (or at least that I can find). Does it really matter if she's on the right or should I be making efforts to get her to shift all the way over to the other side?

[meow]

My bubba is in the same spot. From what I can tell- if they really want to be there and you're maintaining posture for OFP then maybe they know best and that's just where they fit best for your pelvis. But that's just my gleaning of the info- someone with more expertise might be able to tell us more.

[Cricket]

Apparently, babies generally rotate clockwise, rarely counterclockwise, and so, in order for them to get into that optimal position for delivery, they will have to turn all the way from lying on the right, through posterior, to lying on the left. (Or be delivered in a less than optimal position.) This is why a right sided presentation is not ideal.
HOWEVER, my most recent baby lay on my right side all through the last weeks and into labour. She was NOT budging. I think this is why my labour took so long to pick up - she wasn't putting the pressure on my cervix the way she should have because she couldn't fit in well. But, all of a sudden (and I felt it happen) she flipped. And she was born five minutes later.
The usual optimal positioning exercises, which I'm sure you've seen on Spinning Babies, are supposed to help get a right sided baby into the correct position as well. And if it doesn't get her lying the right way before labour, don't stress - plenty of women have delivered posterior babies without too much trouble, and, as in my case, she might flip last minute!

All the best!

[{sarah}]

Ok now that has me a bit worried, what happens if she turns & gets stuck in a posterior position? Wouldn't it be better to birth her on the right than try to get her to move & end up with another posterior labour? And how would I do that, am I supposed to counteract the OFP things to get her to go posterior to get to the left hand side?

[Astrid]

Things can change so unexpectidly, last preg DD was in the opitmal position in the weeks leading up to labour, but guess what, she somehow became posterior for the labour. Not sure how it happened. Last check this one is head down, but on the right.

[Cricket]

You know, that was one thing I was never sure on. Maybe that's why my little lady didn't move. The midwives said that the exercises on Spinning Babies would help - maybe they will move counterclockwise before labour, but not once they are engaged and labour has started?
Sheila Kitzinger has in one of her books that you can relax your tummy, and try to "scoop up" your baby and flip them over, like turning over a sleeping cat. (her example, not mine.) I felt a little uncomfortable with that idea - forcing my baby to move when I didn't know what was going on inside. I tried gently to encourage a "roll-over" from my baby, and seriously, she was NOT moving.
Anyways, you've got PLENTY of time yet for your little lady to settle in properly. She'll probably do a few turns and adjustments yet. Some babies aren't even head-down at this point. I'd say do the exercises when you can, and for the rest, try not to stress.

[dee73]

Sarah - ds1 was engaged from 32 weeks with his bum stuck right on on my right-hand side, and nobody said it was a problem. I hadn't actually heard that left is better, and just went into labour naturally and he came out fine. Nobody said anything at any stage about him being on the "wrong" side. This bub is sitting in the same position already as his big brother - I've felt the big bum out the right for 2 weeks now.