Posterior labours?

[Aranah]

I've had 3, well, 2 and a half posterior labours.

My first was induced and posterior. I did it without drugs, all up it was 8 hours. I coped with *THAT* pain by spending heaps of time in the shower with the high pressure nozels on my back, leaning over a gym ball and also during pushing by the midwives putting heaps of pressure on my back.

My second started posterior, but it was early and the back pain wasn't too bad, and at 5cm, I had an ARM and she turned so the rest of the labour I breezed through without drugs at all. This labour was really really easy because it wasn't posterior and the pain was minimal compared to my first birth.

My third labour was just nasty. The pain was absolutely intense and it was a long labour, 14 hours. The baby was posterior but also very large and the pain became too much for me. I ended up having gas which I still haven't gotten over as I wanted my drug free birth again and I feel like I failed (which is stupid, I know). I 'lost it' as such due to the pain, I had no let up of back pain between contractions and the contractions were way worse this time than first labour and the pain made the first posterior labour seem a breeze. It was worse because, it was a much longer labour, I went into labour at night and hadn't slept since the previous night and was very tired, and because this baby was much bigger than the previous two. I 'lost it' from the pain because I ddin't have the natural pain relieving things available to me this time. Like the high pressure nozel on the shower, the pressure was not much better than a drizzle. Also the water wasn't hot enough. I did have a bath in there, but it was a single bath and I couldn't really fit in it, I was wedged in once I was in there as I was ginormous this pregnancy. The gym ball was useless, pumped up too much and too slippery. And I was put in the delivery suite which was more suited to medical situations than a natural labour ( I wasn't allowed in the hospital's birthing centre because of high BP which had all the natural pain relief).

For the record, I did do all the exercises to turn the baby but he didnt' clunk into place until labour anyway. I had an active upright labour, actually walked the whole time as I couldn't sit down from the pain, but he still engaged posterior. I'm sure it's the shape of my pelvis.

So what I would recommend if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a posterior labour is lots of hot water, someone to rub your back hard, labouring on all fours or leaning forward - anything to take pressure off your back (don't lie down, ouch!), heat pack for your back and a very understanding partner.

Like what's been said, it can be done naturally you just have to think differently about it. upside is that you don;t even feel the stomach contractions because the back pain is so intense and any labour that's normal after that will be a breeze