How to Get Baby to Get in Position for Birth



So you've merely visited your midwife and she (or he) has told you that your infant is back to back. What do y'all do at present? Well, you tin attempt hands and knees position and avert slouching during pregnancy, although current evidence would propose that this makes little difference to the position that your baby will be in every bit your labour begins. Electric current evidence would besides dispute the notion that the cause of your baby's dorsum to dorsum position is related to what yous have and accept not done (come across above).

Some 15 - 30% of babies will start labour in this position and to them this is a comfortable, normal position. The reason that babies prefer this position is most usually due to the shape and type of pelvis yous have. And then, let me explain exactly what back to back means and why information technology happens

What Is It?

The technical proper name for this is 'Occipito Posterior' and you may see it in your maternity notes as simply 'OP'. Your babe is sitting upside downwardly, or head down, in your womb and looking towards your your stomach muscles (if yous had a sunroof where your belly button was you'd exist able to see his cute face). During pregnancy, this position makes no divergence to you or him, he's quite happy there and may well decide that he'd like to stay there. The deviation with this position as opposed to when babies face your spine is the touch that it has on your labour. Allow us explicate why and how that happens:

Why Does It Happen?

Your pelvis is made up of 3 bones which are held together with ligaments, muscles and tendons. At the back is the sacrum, and this, along with the bottom part of your spine protrudes on the internal part of your pelvis.  This prominent part of your pelvis combined with your posture may cause a babe in the back to dorsum or 'posterior' position to tip his head back slightly. "Why would this be a problem?" I hear you lot ask, well, imagine that you're putting on a jumper and the neck is very tight; what practise you lot do? You lot tuck your mentum onto your chest so that the smallest diameter is trying to go through this tight neck of the jumper. And that's exactly what babies try to exercise in labour, make their head as pocket-sized as possible. Only, when a baby is back to back, they will naturally be comfy with their head in a normal 'tucked in' position or tipped slightly backwards. Information technology'south this tipping of their head that causes the different design of labour associated with dorsum to dorsum babies.

What Kind Of Labour Can I Expect?

If you imagine that your cervix, now that it's opening has your babe's head, surrounded by the bag of waters sitting on it. With a baby facing your spine, they are able to tuck their chin neatly to their chest making a tight fit of caput confronting cervix. Now, when a babe is back to back, with his head not so neatly tucked in, water is able to escape around his head causing the expanding balloon affect. Once enough water exerts plenty pressure on a sure area of the membranes they will burst and that's why most of the women whose waters break before labour have babies in a back to back position. Also, because your baby'southward caput diameter is now slightly bigger, due to his position, he's putting a lot of force per unit area through the bottom part of your spine and the back of your pelvis. Y'all may also accept heard this known equally 'dorsum labour', where women feel near of their labour pain in their dorsum. Because of this, the early function of labour, where your cervix is beginning to thin out and open up, may be longer and stop and get-go more than. It may take a few days for your neck to begin to open and your labour to establish, and considering of this, it's important that you lot rest when you can, potable and eat as normal and make certain that your environment is equally comfy and calming as possible (unless you're classed every bit high risk, home ideally is the all-time place for you just at present).

Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing at all.  Nigh back to back labours accept a far gentler build up  allowing plenty of your natural pain killers, endorphins to be produced. The issues occur with the language that nosotros health care professionals use, the subsequent fearfulness that this instills in women and the intervention that we use in labour, such every bit breaking waters to 'speed things up'. This fearfulness, coupled with cocky doubt in your body's ability to nascence, only exacerbates these problems and once yous start on the cascade of intervention, usually beginning with the artificial breaking of your waters or existence encouraged to take strong pain relief  you can sympathize why dorsum to back babies get a bad reputation. You can read more on these bug in our 'Shrinking Cervix' weblog.

What Can I Do?

Y'all actually want to avoid being in hospital in the early stages of your labour and that fashion you can avoid the negative language, encouragement to utilize strong pain relief (such as epidural and diamorphine, once more encounter the pain relief blog on this) and the bogus breaking of your waters (the progress of your labour will be slower, recollect and your cervix has a progress chart to follow in labour). Back rubs past your birth partner will be a smashing benefit with this type of labour equally the showtime role of the labour is usually longer with most of the pain felt in your dorsum. Y'all will probably discover sitting on the toilet or leaning forwards on a birthing ball the most comfy positions to be in.

What you will likewise find is that when you lie downwards, the contractions become less intense and as much as you may wish to remainder it will only make your labour longer, so avoid information technology if at all possible. Baths will also aid during labour as will a TENS automobile. Simply, the well-nigh important affair to think is that you want to assistance your baby to turn as early as possible in your labour, and most will, if non they are usually born facing upwards. To help your baby to turn y'all either demand to make your pelvis bigger or his head smaller. His caput needs to attain your pelvic floor to turn and tuck in and he's going to struggle to do that if at that place'southward no room for him to drop down to attain it. That's why you demand to sit either on the toilet, in a squat, on a birthing ball, in fact any position where yous feel the contractions more intensely and back back pain less so.

Pilates during pregnancy volition aid to strengthen (dramatically) your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor, and when whatever muscles become strengthened and toned they 'pull up' or 'pull in'. With a strong pelvic floor to turn confronting your baby tin can make this turn earlier in labour thus reducing the length of that labour.

Now For The Good News

While you've been coping with this early on part of labour, your body has been pumping out huge amounts of endorphins, your natural pain killer. Once your baby has turned, not just does your dorsum anguish ease but your labour speeds upwards as well, and guess what, you've still got all these natural pain killers. Essentially, the second one-half of your labour volition be much easier than the get-go so don't fall into the trap of thinking that things volition get worse, they will nearly probable only go better. So recollect,

• Stay at home as long as possible
• Use the toilet, squatting, or whatsoever position where your knees are higher than your hips - think 'knees to chest'
• Use rut packs, baths, massage and TENS for back ache
• Eat, drinkable and balance as yous need to (make your nascency partner practise the aforementioned)
• Don't worry if your waters intermission on their own, they were meant to, just let your midwife or hospital know
• Try and avoid having your waters cleaved by health intendance professionals by asking what benefits this will bring and how much will it speed up my labour (only past 20 minutes is what the research says)
• Decline routine vaginal examinations, that style no one will know if the charge per unit at which your cervix opens doesn't meet a standard charge per unit of progress, thus any intervention from in that location is well-nigh impossible.
• Read upward on all forms of hurting relief earlier labour and then that yous tin can make an informed option during labour.
• This position is a variation of normal, not a position that needs to be 'fixed', if it was, human being beings as a species would be very poor at giving birth and we're really rather splendid at it!

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Source: https://myexpertmidwife.com/blogs/my-expert-midwife/my-babys-back-to-back-what-can-i-do

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