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December 2015 Moms
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Fetal Positioning and Labor

satindawl83satindawl83 member
in December 2015 Moms
I took a prenatal yoga class yesterday, and a STM mentioned she had back labor with her first. I hear the term here quite often, so I asked what she meant. The instructor chimed in and said that the ideal fetal position is with the baby's head down (obviously), with their face towards your back.

Back labor is when the baby is faced towards you and their skull is sitting on your spine. Interesting stuff for a FTM....

To take it a step further, the instructor said that to help ensure your baby comes out this way, most of the activity in the womb towards the later months should be on the right side. So the baby's head is on the left, and there are things you can do to get the baby in the position. I don't get the science behind it, but it's pretty interesting.

Anyone else heard of this or had any experience?
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Re: Fetal Positioning and Labor

  • ammnam14ammnam14 member
    No experience but this is so interesting! A while back I asked my mom about back labor and she said she had it with all of her kids. Yikes!

    How did you like the prenatal class? I was an avid yogi years ago and wanted to get back into it. Is it worth it??

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  • MorganW24MorganW24 member
    edited July 2015
    There is a website called spinning babies that can help turn babies that aren't in ideal birthing position. It's full of stretches, funky positions, and all kinds of ideas to help turn babies to avoid things like the dreaded back labor, breech babies, etc.

    * for link
    https://spinningbabies.com
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  • satindawl83satindawl83 member
    Back labor sounds so freakin painful!

    The class went well. It was a little slow for my taste, though. However, my only previous experience with yoga was P90x yoga which made me swore off yoga forever. P90X yoga is an hour and 20 minutes of torture.

    I think when I get into the later months, and am a little bigger, I may try the prenatal class again. I've heard it's good for getting your body ready for birth.
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  • satindawl83satindawl83 member
    @MorganW24 the instructor actually mentioned the Spinning Babies website. I wasn't sure if it was a crunchy thing or if it really worked.
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  • MorganW24MorganW24 member
    I've heard good things about the website! I guess you could consider it "crunchy" but there's not a whole lot you can do medically to get a baby to turn. (Breech babies can sometimes be turned with the help of an OB but all my research shows it can be painful and doesn't have the best success rates) So personally I would stretch anyway possible to try to get baby to turn.
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  • missphilmissphil member
    I've been taking prenatal Kundalini yoga which helps prepare for labor mentally and physically. I love it and the teachers are all midwives or doulas, so they are full of tidbits. They said not to lay down on the couch with your head propped up towards the end of the third trimester to prevent these breech positions. Also, doing cat/cow will help the baby keep his head down towards the cervix.
    We did a lot of stretching to keep the blood flowing, lots of squats, and some meditations holding your arms straight out to learn how to work through waves of pain.
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  • Mizuiro007Mizuiro007 member
    I'm honestly fascinated with this thread. After having a baby that was in the oblique position and experiencing how labor positioning was able to help, it's something I am interested to do a little more reading on. The spinning babies website was helpful and some of the positions suggested for oblique are the same that worked for me.
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  • TaylovesbradTaylovesbrad member
    I think anything is worth a shot. I would at least try it. Wish there was a prenatal yoga class near me. I've done some workouts with youtube videos
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  • 4puddleducks4puddleducks member
    I had back labor with DS. It was painful and I endured it for as long as could before asking for an epidural. DS was face down when he was born. I don't know what position he was in while I was laboring before the epidural and it is possible he flipped.
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  • satindawl83satindawl83 member
    @Taylovesbrad I think I may take that approach. What's the worst that can happen if I try it?

    I'm surprised there are no prenatal yoga classes near you! I feel like they're all over the place.
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  • littleSkittle14littleSkittle14 member
    I had back labor with my first. She was posterior (what it's called when they're head down but facing the wrong way) It's dreadful, almost paralyzing pain that comes with each contraction. I should add: my Dd was in perfect position at my 38w check and turned by the time I started to labor.

    A lot of these things are great things to try, but it's important to note that none are scientifically or medically proven to work. I just don't want any FTM to think that they can guarantee that baby will be in perfect position when the time comes, and then be disappointed.

    My point is: While these things may help, it's not a guarantee so don't stress yourself out! ;)
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  • jmomof4jmomof4 member
    Spinning babies, yoga and a good chiro are my three essentials in pregnancy for this reason!
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