Turning a (stubborn) posterior baby

[Piglet]

I have a little while to go, but for most of this pregnancy, baby has been posterior. I have already had 2 back labours and my OB thinks I might just be one of the unlucky ones that has a funny shaped pelvis. I am really hoping to prove him wrong ;) Right now baby is totally posterior - back to my back, big dip around my belly button, kicks all around my front. I would like to make a concerted effort to see if I can get baby into a better position. I have been looking at stuff online and it isn't super helpful. Many sites say that doing 5 minutes a day won't help and other say that most babies turn on their own during labour, so don't bother trying to get them turned beforehand. I guess I want to say that I at least tried!? So, if anyone has had success getting a posterior baby turned, I would love to hear how you did it. Or if you have any good links, I am open to suggestions!

Thanks,

[Momof3Labs]

www.spinningbabies.com has good info - but almost too much of it.

Lay on your left side. Don't sit reclined or leaning back AT ALL - sit upright or leaning forward (birthing balls are great for this). Spend some time on the floor on your hands and knees. Think about gravity, and pulling the heavier part of the baby (his/her back) towards your belly button. Don't labor reclined or flat on your back.

My first was posterior (probably due to my labor, though, flat on my back). Second wanted to be posterior, but we fought it the last two weeks through the tips in my last paragraph, plus I spent 99.9% of my time in labor on a birthing ball or hands and knees.

HTH!

[brittone2]

ITA w/ what Lori said. I think DS was posterior and then flipped during my last few weeks of pgcy. I did a lot of hands/knees, etc.

Definitely no reclining. Don't do deep squats, etc. until baby is in a good position.

Supposedly w/ subsequent pregnancies, there is more room to flip, so baby may hang out posterior but turn in labor. DD was not totally posterior, but part way there, through a large part of my pgcy. (and this time I did the spinningbabies positioning stuff the whole time). My midwives kept reassuring me that she would likely turn in labor. She certainly did because I had a very very short labor w/ her.

Other things to read up on are that if you can at all avoid having your water broken artificially, skip it. That cushion gives baby room to turn in labor and taking it away drops the head far into your pelvis making it much tougher to turn during the rest of your labor.

You might also look for a chiropractor that does the Webster technique. It is most effective to help breeches but can help some posterior babies turn as well. Moxibustion and acupuncture can also help some women. I did a few chiro visits at the end of my pregnancy and I think they did help DD get into a better position. Oh, and homeopathic pulsatilla can help...I did that too.

Good luck. Try not to stress too much about it in advance...just do what you can do positioning wise. I was all prepared for a super long labor since DD wasn't optimally positioned and it went so fast I could have ended up having her at home (unplanned) ;)

If you think there's a good chance of having a posterior baby, you might also want to look for a doula. Some of the back labor techniques they can provide may help you through it all much easier, should baby end up not turning.

ETA: just reread your post and saw that you are almost 33 weeks. I think most positioning stuff and chiropractic is most effective right NOW in your pregnancy, while there is still some wiggle room for baby to turn. So you might want to work hard at it the next week or two at the very least. Take advantage of having that extra room right now. Baby can turn late in the game, but right now is a wonderful time to try to have an impact through your own positioning stuff. Definitely go check the stuff at spinning babies, hang out on your left side, if you drive a lot use a wedge to position yourself so your knees are lower than your hips and sit straight up in the car. Hands/knees, butt in the air, crawling around on all 4s (fun, huh?). No lounging/reclining/slouching allowed ;)