The Importance of Baby's Position

I have spent a great deal of time researching and studying malpositioning and methods to get baby back in the right position to come down smoothly. Positioning refers to how the baby is lying in the uterus and how the head is presenting at the cervix and/or vaginal canal. There are so many abbreviations and different positions noted that it can get really confusing, so for the sake of simplicity I'll just compare the optimum position - Left Occiput Anterior (LOA) and a less favorable position - Right Occiput Posterior (ROP). Basically, you want baby to be facing your spine with his head down. Laying on the left side is more favorable than the right. When a baby is posterior he is looking away from mommy's spine. This causes all kinds of problems from severe back pain to the head extending and creating stalled labor or a baby "stuck". Many times when a woman in told her pelvis is too small this is why - instead of the baby flexing his head (tucking his chin into his chest) and creating a smaller diameter presenting through the birth canal, the baby's head extends and the presenting part is larger. Often, babies who are malpositioned will not put even pressure on the cervix during labor which causes longer labors and "stalled" labors because the cervix doesn't open as it would when there is even pressure from the head during labor.

So what is there to do? Fortunately - a lot! I have recently found a website (look under info for moms) that listed many of the popular ideas out there. There are also several good books out there if you want to read more(several mentioned in the article), but really knowing the simple exercises that seem to encourage rotation are probably all you need to know, that and also the knowledge that your posture matters. Apparently having good posture is extremely important. All these things are outlined in the article I sited so I won't rewrite it all here, but note the importance of this information. Most OBs will not employ these methods, and they may or may not even tell you if your baby is malpositioned unless you ask. So, get informed so you can experience all the blessings of childbirth.