My baby is positioned back to back (OP)

[dovkav123]

Hello ladies,
I am around 39-40 weeks pregnant and two weeks ago my baby was laying left on the side his head faing left but this week he is laying his back facing my back occiput posterior.
I wonder if he'll turn to a better position?
I wonder if my midwive can turn him during the birth?
I know that with this baby position a birth is a bit longer and more painful.
I appreciate any enouragement, any advice and experience.

 

[Feronia]

It can be common for baby to stay in an OP position until the very last part of labour. Babies turn and mold themselves when going through the birth canal. With DD, she was OP for weeks prior to labour and must have turned towards the end since she was born OA. I didn't end up having any back labour either.

 

[RaspberryK]

You can try positions to help baby be in the right position like sitting upright, sitting on a birth ball and not slouching on the sofa for example.
My ds didn't turn til he was coming out and he came out looking sideways.
Xx

 

[mummytobe_93]

I gave birth to a back too back baby so it is possible.

I only ever felt pain in my back, not going to lie it was excruciating but isn't birth always painful? Pushing took 1-2 hours but I think that's because my bladder was very full too but the midwives didn't notice that for a while so I think I could have got the baby out within an hour if not.

Usually babies turn in birth but if they don't it just means pushing is going to be a bit harder x

 

[Julesillini8]

Is this your first baby?
My first baby was born OP, and yes there's a reason they are supposed to come out the other way. However, being my first baby, I didn't know any difference and yes it hurt like hell ( I will spare you the details as I'm sure that wont help your nerves) but I thought that's just how it is. My second baby was born regular and there is a BIG difference, but again, if it's your first you'll never know.
Hoping baby turns a bit, I think they can up until its go time, so there's hope! And if not, many women birth babies like this, it's just not the optimal way for them to come out. Best wishes!

 

[zorak]

My first was OP. I managed with no pain meds at all until I was fully dilated and had already been pushing for an hour. I only requested an epidural when the goal changed from a regular vaginal birth to a Ventuse delivery.

The nurse got me to sleep for a couple of hours at this point in the hope baby would descend more. When I woke up I tried pushing for another 90 mins and nothing. I was fortunate my epidural allowed me the full use of my legs so I was pushing in a range of positions.

I ended up with a c section but it turned out LO was 9 lbs 10 Oz with a big head so the combination of that and being OP was why he got stuck. The staff were brilliant , everything was so calm and neither of us were in distress so I had time to get my head round the c section before it happened.

So I guess I'm saying just have an open mind, for all I had a c section my experience was very positive. The staff did everything they could to help me have a vaginal birth but the doc said if they went ahead with the Ventuse I'd have suffered massive damage , so for me and LO c section was the right path.

 

[RaspberryK]

PS. 10lb3oz baby here pushed out before the second midwife could make it into the room, no pain medication (26 hour labour though), no tears/stitches and I was flat on my back... so although he came out squiffy he didn't have any trouble coming out.
Babies can get stuck regardless of which way they are presenting so really don't worry, plus baby has time to go back to how he was before.

xx

 

[DebbieF]

My dd was back to back. I thought it was extremely painful, but she was my first, so I had nothing to compare it to. Hopefully the 2nd time around will be easier.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Feronia]

My back-to-back labour wasn't painful (home birth, no meds), and back pain can be experienced regardless of the position. I didn't experience any even though she was OP until the very end, and I know people who had back labour with OA babies. OP labours tend to be longer with more starting and stopping though (this was true for me). Check out spinningbabies.com for tips on repositioning an OP baby though.

 

[Cattia]

My DD was back to back and my son turned about a day before delivery. For me the main difference with back to back was that all the pain was in my back and there was no break between contractions. I had an epidural with DD which also slowed things down, but she was born naturally and as others have said, when it's your first you have nothing to compare it to. If you look up optimal foetal positioning you'll find lots of tips online on how to turn a back to back baby before labour.

 

[RaspberryK]

My back-to-back labour wasn't painful (home birth, no meds), and back pain can be experienced regardless of the position. I didn't experience any even though she was OP until the very end, and I know people who had back labour with OA babies. OP labours tend to be longer with more starting and stopping though (this was true for me). Check out spinningbabies.com for tips on repositioning an OP baby though.

Starting and stopping was also true for me, I never experienced that time able and increasingly closer together contractions, but that could have been due to a huge pocket of waters in the way and ds not being engaged properly.
Xx

 

[zenaa]

I had a back to back labor recently, i felt absolutely no pain in the abdomen it was excrutiating back pain but not unbearable, i had close to 40 hours of labor so got epi last hours however wasnt too numb. My baby got stuck so had to have forceps delivery.

 

[Zephram]

My first was OP/OT, he was literally stuck in the corner. I felt no contractions in my tummy, it was all in my back and it was horrible... Ended up in caesarean, but there are other circumstances involved in that - failed induction, heart rate dips, etc, so I don't know how much him not being OA had to do with that. Plenty of women have OP babies, it's possible for it to go off without a hitch.

 

[Feronia]

My back-to-back labour wasn't painful (home birth, no meds), and back pain can be experienced regardless of the position. I didn't experience any even though she was OP until the very end, and I know people who had back labour with OA babies. OP labours tend to be longer with more starting and stopping though (this was true for me). Check out spinningbabies.com for tips on repositioning an OP baby though.

Starting and stopping was also true for me, I never experienced that time able and increasingly closer together contractions, but that could have been due to a huge pocket of waters in the way and ds not being engaged properly.
Xx

Same here! My contractions never got closer than about 3-4 minutes even at the very end, and they weren't regular so I couldn't time them easily. DD was engaged in a brow presentation at the onset of labour though, and acupuncture was extremely helpful in getting her to flip while I was in labour. Highly recommended if need be!

 

[RaspberryK]

I'll be looking into acupuncture and moxibustion (?) if spinning babies techniques etc don't get baby head down in a few weeks time.
I used a few acupressure points during the evening and morning before I passed my mmc baby in Feb and also to help pass the rpoc afterwards so I believe it to be very effective.
I wish I'd looked into it for when I had ds but I was just so thrilled he turned from breech that I didn't give any thought to him being back to back.
Xx

 

[Cattia]

I'll be looking into acupuncture and moxibustion (?) if spinning babies techniques etc don't get baby head down in a few weeks time.
I used a few acupressure points during the evening and morning before I passed my mmc baby in Feb and also to help pass the rpoc afterwards so I believe it to be very effective.
I wish I'd looked into it for when I had ds but I was just so thrilled he turned from breech that I didn't give any thought to him being back to back.
Xx

My son was back to back until a day before delivery, the midwife told me it's much less of a concern with second babies as they are much more likely to turn on their own during our before labour, and sure enough, he did!

 

[RaspberryK]

I'm not too worried about back to back as I've done it before... but I am worried about having a fight on my hands if I requested a breech home water birth with a previous LGA baby ...

xx

 

[Feronia]

I'm not too worried about back to back as I've done it before... but I am worried about having a fight on my hands if I requested a breech home water birth with a previous LGA baby ...

xx

hehe, yeah, it would have been a fight for me too since midwives here technically aren't allowed to attend breech home births. I would have attempted one anyway (though on dry land) with a frank breech since the rate of prolapsed cord is the same as if baby was head down, but I'd rather not fight it at all!

 

[RaspberryK]

I'm struggling to find the "rules" for the uk but I've been reading up that breech birth in water may result in better outcomes due to the water temperature being similar to internal body temperature.
Xx

 

[Feronia]

I'm struggling to find the "rules" for the uk but I've been reading up that breech birth in water may result in better outcomes due to the water temperature being similar to internal body temperature.
Xx

Oh, really? Interesting, I haven't heard that. I've only seen breech births on dry land on youtube, mostly on hands and knees, (DD and I have been watching a lot of home birth videos lately LOL). I've read that the best position for breech birth is hands and knees and I think that would be harder to do in a pool -- but maybe not! Do you have a link?