Is there any way of telling whether your baby is anterior or posterior without an US?

[mrsr]

I was just reading a few threads and also had at look at the Spinning Babies website and that has prompted me to ask:

Can you tell, without an ultrasound, whether or not your baby is in an anterior or posterior position? I'm carrying this one way out in front and am getting kicks on the sides and also quite low. I have an anterior placenta - don't know if that makes any difference though.

Does anyone know?

[krysalyss]

Most midwives have a pretty good idea just from the feel and look, I would think.
My DS was posterior. I stuck quite far out up the top and not at all down the bottom of my bump.
Also I have heard that mothers with posterior bumps rarely have a sticking out belly button. Was true for me but not sure how true it is generally.

[Antheia]

Well when my DS was posterior i could feel is hands and feet and it felt like there were gaps, like between his limbs etc whereas with DD she was always anterior and my belly was always shaped so that i couldnt really feel and limbs and there were no squishy gaps, if that makes sense.

[Trillian]

You can definately tell without a scan which position bubs is in. If you lay down on your back and have a feel around, you should be able to tell quite clearly where bubs is. If they are ROP (Back on right side) you will a hardness running along the right side of your belly. OP (posterior) you tend to feel a bit softer in the belly and there is no clearly defined 'hardness' - just gaps and the occasional bump like Tegan said. When bubs is LOA (back on left) you can feel the hardness running along the left side of your tum. Plus you tend to get kicks on the opposite side to where the back is. Having an anterior placenta can make it a little harder to tell bubs position, plus it is apparently more common for a posterior bubs with an anterior placenta, but not always. Another tell-tale sign of a posterior bubs is that if you look at your tum side-on in a mirror, it will look flat at the front.

[mrsr]

Thanks goils. Have an appointment with the middies on the 15th so will get them to run me through it too. This little blighter is constantly on the move!!

[mrsr]

If you've had a posterior baby before, that's no guarantee that the next one will be the same will it?

[Trillian]

No, there is no gurantee that the next one will be the same. My last two were though, but it would more than likely be coincidental. That said though some women have posterior bubs with every pg too. Just make sure that from here on in you keep good posture (no slouching or lazing on the couch ) and do your optimal fetal positioning exercises and you should be right.