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Posterior Birth, No Medication, No Interventions
By Cheri Peceri
This is a birth story to inspire the moms of posterior babies.
My fourth baby was born posterior. She was an incredibly painful birth that lasted for 15 hours. My contractions were intense and every three minutes apart from the start. When we arrived at the hospital, I was 3 centimeters dilated. The staff considered sending me home because my contractions were not regular (trust your instincts here, as you are the expert of your body), but I would not leave. Instead, I walked and squatted a lot. Soon my body started to relax, and my uterus started working hard (you need to get your body and the hospital staff out of the way, so your uterus can do its job).
At about 2 a.m., the nurses and my midwife were getting worried about my lack of progress and my ability to keep going. My mother-in-law, doula and my husband did not give up on me and my baby though, and with their encouragement, my birth stayed natural and unhurried.
After three hours of confusion as to whether or not to push against a cervical lip, if the baby was in the proper position and what position I should be in, my mother-in-law and I closed ourselves into a hot shower and peacefully I surrendered to my body. IT WORKED. Within 10 minutes, my posterior baby's birth was imminent. We got me into bed, and I gave birth to a face-up, beautiful baby girl. She was my smallest at 6 pounds, 3 ounces.
It is my deepest feeling that my baby would have been severely injured if they tried to turn her. She had a very short cord, and I believe she had to be in that position in order for the placenta not to be pulled away, cutting off her oxygen prematurely. You NEED to trust your baby and your body. They are best if left alone. We, as women, are designed to do this.
Warm water and peace were what was required to make this birth a success, not instruments, staff or medication. This kind of birth is more painful because it is required to be. It is more difficult to push the baby down, and drugs would only lead to instruments to pull my baby from me, leading to a possible injury to my baby and a definite injury to me. By the way, I did not tear or need an episiotomy. Happy birthing!
