[ADVICE] How can I avoid a posterior birth 2nd time around??

I had an extremely painful posterior birth with DD. Not that I have any other births to compare the pain too :lol: however I believe posterior is meant to be more painful than the other as bub was facing the wrong way!! I also did it drug-free so felt everything :lol: (but that was my choice to ;) ) I tore really badly and cracked my tailbone too and I think it was due to bub being posterior.
I'd love to experience labour with baby facing the right way this time!! Might make my pushing stage less (last time was 2.5hrs!!!! :wall:)

So, how do I avoid getting this bub into a posterior position again? And is it possible it will just happen again no matter what I do?

Has anyone had 2 posterior births in a row? :o

Any good websites someone can point me in the direction please? Thanks.

DD was posterior as well Ren, My OB told me yesterday that if you get on all 4's for approx 10 - 15 mins a few times a day that it helps bub to spin around a face the correct way - also when sitting on a chair sit on it backwards (so the back is at your front) and lean fwd a bit - makes gravity spin bub around. Ill be giving it a go and see what happens.

Good luck!

My 1st was posterier but my 2nd wasnt I didnt do anything diferent I hear you on the pain of a posterier baby though all the best

Have you looked at the Spinning Babies website Shanti? Lots of useful tips there :).

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DD was posterior as well Ren, My OB told me yesterday that if you get on all 4's for approx 10 - 15 mins a few times a day that it helps bub to spin around a face the correct way - also when sitting on a chair sit on it backwards (so the back is at your front) and lean fwd a bit - makes gravity spin bub around. Ill be giving it a go and see what happens.

Good luck!

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Did he say when to start doing that? Like after 30 weeks? Or now?

Aligater - thanks! That gives me some hope then! :lol:

He said that you can do it at any stage and to start doing it every day from now... I dont think it matters how far you are it just encourages bub to face the right way.

lol i share ur fears hun, fingers crossed for a baby coming out the right way this time!!

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He said that you can do it at any stage and to start doing it every day from now... I dont think it matters how far you are it just encourages bub to face the right way.

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Thank you!! Might start doing that TODAY :rofl:

Yep I have started as of yesterday, I find it easy if I play with DD on the floor I just get on all 4s for a while and then go back to sitting - I can actually feel bub rotate at times while im doing it!

I've had two posterior births owing to my roomy accommodation, DS was 4.81kg and had loads of room to keep spinning around in their, he turned anterior two pushes before he was born. It also caused a hellish four weeks of pre labour but the best thing I could do to turn him the right way was swim. Every morning I went to the pool, did a bit of breaststroke and floating on my belly with a kick board and he'd turn, I'd get out, have contractions, ponder a public delivery in the pool, get in the car and the little bugger would turn back on the way home. If I had my time again id fill up the birth pool to do my belly floating at home, the reclined position in the car was a killer. So see if you can get a body of water big enough for floating within walking distance of your home! Good luck

They are damn painful babies to birth! Hats off to you doing it drug free!!!

From what I've been told (possibly misinformed :dunno:) it's a case of luck of the draw. I tried lots of things to turn DD and she did spin but then she'd spin again.....and again....and so on right up until she was locked into the birth canal - in the posterior position :wall: I had an awful lot of amniotic fluid though so I'm not sure if that made much difference.

My midwife and OB's (my OB plus the one that delivered DD as mine was away) all said the chances of another posterior birth in the future was unlikely as although they are normal, they aren't super common. The likelihood didn't increase or decrease because I've had one though, it really was just 'one of those things'.

It definitely can't hurt to try some techniques from the Spinning Babies website though. Despite everything I just wrote, I'll be doing that with me next pregnancy.

Good luck hon. I'll be stalking you! :)

My Midwife/Doula told me that baby turns during labour so trying to get them into an anterior position prior to labour means very little. If you're going to have a posterior labour you won't know about it until you're actually IN labour.

However, she also said that there are positions you can assume DURING labour that can help turn a posterior baby to anterior. I don't know what those positions are, cause although I had a hell of a lot of backpain, DS kept moving himself back and forth during labour (we think). I expect some of those positions include on all fours.

Good posture during pregnancy can definitely help hun, lying on the couch on your left hand side if you want to lie down otherwise don't slouch back because it just bub want to slouch on your back too :rofl: Sitting nice and upright with your hips and back out instead of tucked in if that makes sense and fit ball can all help. Hard to do all the time but whenever you notice yoruself sitting with bad posture do something to fix it like putting a cushion behind you etc.

Good luck hun - Izzy was posterior too and it's definitely not nice. xoxo

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Izzy was posterior too and it's definitely not nice. xoxo

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Must be something in the name, that's DD's nickname too ;)

DS2 was also posterior it is so much more painfull than the other lol i to am hoping this one isnt the same too. Ive also just been told posture and getting on all 4's helps il let you know how i go lol

Apparently in cultures where squatting is common, and reclining on couches/chairs is uncommon (ie. third world countries, where the women might squat to cook by the fire, etc.) posterior babies are very uncommon. That might give you a bit of an idea as to what to avoid and what to do.
For what it's worth, I've had five babies, and they have all sat the same way through the late weeks of my pregnancies. They all were head down, with their backs on my right side. Since babies usually rotate clockwise in labour, not counterclockwise, they all might have been posterior births. My first, second, and fourth all moved to anterior on their own during labour, without back labour. My third flipped right as I was pushing and came out really fast then! My fifth was born as a posterior brow presentation. (At home. Without drugs. One heck of a lot of pushing! Ouch! His birth story is on here if you are curious.) It was during that pregnancy that I did the most "hands and knees" stuff, which should have put him the right way!
What I'm trying to say is, there are things that can help prevent a posterior birth, but sometimes babies will just do their own thing, good or bad.
I think that the first birth is usually the worst. That was definitely my experience anyways! I'd rather experience my posterior delivery again compared to my first delivery! This baby will likely be easier even if he/she presents the same way.
And, you know you can do it! :hug: All the best for a great birth!

I havent read all the other responces yet but thought id share my story with you. Ds was prosterior - long stop start labour, painfull in my opinion too. 17 hour active labour after 24 hours of pre labour - just not nice! Waters broke naturally and after another 4 hours of active labour i still hadnt dilated further. I ended up having the drip put in and an epi and ds was born sunny side up after 1.5 hours of pushing with the aid of the vaccum and an episiotamy.

DD was breach until 32 weeks when she flipped to prosterior. After having an OP birth before i wanted to avoid it completely if possible as i wanted to have a natural birth if possible and i believed that i could have with ds if he wasnt OP too. I started doing inversion and spinning exercises as given to me by my middy. Unfortunately for me all the heartburn from hanging upside down for hours each day wasnt worth te effort as she stayed in the same position for antother 9 weeks until she was born.

Everyone kept saying not to worry that she would probably turn during labour and i thought so too as she hadnt actually engaged yet. Nope, she didnt and i gave birth to another sunny side up baby BUT this time my active labour was 5 hours and even the first 2.5 hours of that was a little sporatic. Pushing was 30 mins and i had her drug free (well i did have gas and lots of it lol) with only a first degree tear (which did require stitching) and a small graze.

I guess i wanted to share as for me even though it still wasnt the birth i had envisioned, it was soooo much better then ds's (although more painful but i dont know if that was because i had an epi with him or that dd's was quicker?). So if you have done it before then you can do it again!!!

I've had 3 posterior births. All mine got quicker, and my longest pushing stage has been 10 minutes. I did absolutely everything to get them to turn around. Nothing at all worked. I've birthed 2 of mine on my back, and #3 was on all 4's. All were fantastic births with no tears. I think it's just pot luck really lol. All the best hun.

Yep, get onto the Spinning Babies website ASAP!!

Acupuncture and Chiro can also help :)

Thanks everyone! I have heard of the spinning babies website when pregnant last time but I never really looked into it as I had no reason to, DD was, the whole time in the pregnancy, in ideal positions!!

She was never posterior UNTIL labour started I believe!! :rolleyes: so wasn't much I could do to prepare kwim?

I've started reading about this more this time so I'll be prepared for it.....I'm not scared of having another posterior birth, pain doesn't scare me, it's just that I'd PREFER to avoid it!! :lol: (obviously!!). I'm aware that sometimes these babies just won't budge no matter what we do!

I'm pretty confident labour and therefore pushing stage in general will be much shorter, or at least 'easier' this time around being my 2nd birth too :) although I was pretty lucky last time as labour was only 9.5hrs all up too.

Thanks so much everyone. I had an awesome birth last time considering the OP position of DD and the tearing.....just hoping to avoid that this time around so it will be even better!! :dance:

Heaven - yep gonna see my AP alot more closer to labour!! ;)

My midwife encourages crawling along the hallway, playing on the floor on all fours etc from 34 weeks. Before then, they just summersault around a lot (well 2nd babies do anyway). She also encourages leaning forward while watching tv and relaxing, sitting backwards on chairs etc...basically avoiding reclining on your back.

I did this religiously when pg with DD and if nothing else, it helped me feel I was doing something!

I was told to imagine a beam of light shining out of my belly button, and to try and make sure at some point it would make contact with the floor, hence, not slouching, sitting just a bit forward rather than leaning back. Meant I could still lay down on the couch, just turned slightly on my side shooting that beam into the ground ;)

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I was told to imagine a beam of light shining out of my belly button, and to try and make sure at some point it would make contact with the floor, hence, not slouching, sitting just a bit forward rather than leaning back. Meant I could still lay down on the couch, just turned slightly on my side shooting that beam into the ground ;)

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HB, that's not a bad suggestion! Thanks, will try! ;) Now DH will see me doing these positions and trying to shine my light beam on the ground and he'll be wondering what on earth I'm doing :rofl: haha

I'm such a huge sloucher!! That's half my problem!

hey hun,just letting u know Jack was a well behaved baby and was born anterior. i'm a major sloucher too ;)

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hey hun,just letting u know Jack was a well behaved baby and was born anterior. i'm a major sloucher too ;)

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:hug: hey Skybie. I'm glad to hear he was well behaved for you and was anterior....gives me hope. Glad I'm not the only sloucher ;) :hug: xx Thinking of you.

There's quite a lot of evidence to suggest that babies who adopt the possy position do so either because they have to (i.e like mine who did it every time the monitor pads were put on) or because of immature vestibular systems. The vestibular system starts to develop around 14 weeks, and the best way mum can help bub develop this system is by walking, particularly up and down gentle slopes.

Hi Shanti, I know exactly where youre coming from! My DD was posterior and I had a week of pre labour, 16 hours of labour all up with 3 hours of pushing. I had 4th degree tears. No drugs!! I think the shape of your pelvis or uterus can play a big part in it from what I have been told. ALso, I did EVERYTHING to change my DDs position leading up to the birth (she was posterior for 6 weeks and engaged for 4) and it didnt do anything. Might be pelvis shape, might be because she was extremely squashed in there because I didnt seem to grow very big even though she was 3.5kg and 52cm long, who knows. Her head was the hardest bit - it was in the 90th percentile. Extremely painful.

hey there, my 1st was posterior too, he turned during labour when i laid on my side....the all 4's possie also helps.

Having said that, #2 & #3 were anterior...yay!! So it doesn't definately mean your next bub will be posterior as well :)

xxx

When I was pg with DD#1 one of my midwives was adamant that I do everything possible from 34wks onwards to avoid my baby being posterior. She gave me a handout (alot of the stuff is the same on spinning babies) and insisted I always sit with my knees lower than my hips and not to recline - if on the couch lie on your side!
I ended up sitting on the floor alot, or backwards on a chair.
All the best darl! :)

A midwife told me yesterday it is unusual for subsequent labors to be posterior. My second was which is why she commented.

Like Persephone said I think it's luck of the draw my girl was in the perfect position leading in and then turned posterior when I was in labour. I had an active labour, no lying down, on the ball or leaning forward over a chair but i think A posterior labour is just unlucky. Fingers crossed for third time around.

Optimal positing using all the techniques described gives you the best chance but no guarantees. I honestly think the power of the mind is an amazing tool, so focus on a good anterior position rather than worrying about a posterior one. Good luck!

My first was posterior and I was petrified that my second would be too. I was always on my Dr's case at each check up, wanting to know baby's position. Was sooo anxious lol. BUT in the end, we avoided it the second time around. I really didnt do much to avoid it, just hoped for the best haha! GL!

Thanks everyone!! I am nearly 30 weeks so will be starting to focus more on my OFP and the spinning babies website to try and keep bub anterior :) It's hard to say at this stage as bub is moving around so much in there!

You're right, focusing on having an 'anterior' labour/birth this time around is more important than stressing about not having a posterior labour/birth! :)