How To Prevent Posterior Births
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- It is good to try and avoid all reclining positions. If you have a soft reclining seat or couch, best to put a pillow under your bum and tilt your pelvis forward. Keep knees below your pelvis at all times, back straight. A large birth ball is the perfect ‘chair’ for this position. Keep your pelvis tilted forward at all times.
- Keep active, walk as much as possible.
- Practice pelvic rocks on your hands and knees every day for minimum 3 times a day for 20 minutes and/or; Take up the knee-to-chest position (sometimes called the playful puppy pose…chest to the floor, bum up in the air) for an hour or so every day. Some people prefer this because it will prevent a posterior baby from engaging until it is in a good position. (Once baby engages posterior, it’s much less likely s/he will turn.)
- While this doesn’t sound like much fun, scrub your floors on your hands and knees regularly. Crawling around in this fashion is great for getting baby anterior.
- Sleep on your left side, with your left leg straight and your right leg at a 90-degree angle supported by a pillow or two. This creates a ‘hammock’ for your belly and will encourage the baby to rotate.
- Avoid squatting unless you are sure baby is now anterior…squatting can force a posterior baby into the pelvis before s/he rotates, making it much less likely s/he will turn anterior without being disengaged first. Lie down on your back and put a rolled towel in the small of your back to form an exaggerated arch. This will make a posterior baby hyperextend their necks and will usually make them turn.
- If baby is deeply engaged posterior, you may try a slant board (as with a breech baby; a piece of wood or an ironing board is propped up on a couch or chair and the mother lays on it, on her back with her head pointing down) to try to disengage the baby in order to try the first set of exercises again.
- A relaxing tea, such as valerian or skullcap may also help before trying the slant board.
- Since babies tend to turn their backs toward warmth, an ice pack on the back with warm towels on the mother’s belly will sometimes encourage a baby to turn.
- Homeopathic Pulsatilla has been known to help turn a baby. It apparently evens out the muscles in the uterus, allowing baby to fit into an optimal position. Take 1 tablet of Pulsatilla 30c 3 times a day for a few days.