My last baby was posterior. Will that happen again? What can I do to prevent it?” – This question is something I get asked at least once a month and see posted in birthing groups on what seems like a weekly basis.
It’s my observation that MOST first babies are posterior for at least part of the pregnancy and birthing process, and MOST second babies don’t need as much time and patience to navigate the pelvis. First births take so much patience because your pelvis has never had to open before, and it can take time for the baby to find the path of least resistance and for your pelvis work its way into opening.
The moral of the story, doing stretches, etc to keep your body flexible in your lower back and hips is great, but otherwise, try not to think too much about your baby’s position! Your baby will navigate the pelvis how it needs to, and in all likelihood, with second babies, will have an easier time doing so this round simply because your pelvis already has opened once before.
During pregnancy, absolutely focus on the health and openness of your body by doing any stretches that keep your lower back and hips relaxed (yoga is great in pregnancy!). However, I always recommend thinking of it as keeping your body feeling as open and relaxed in those places as you can, but NOT about trying to control the position of your baby!
My absolute favourite article on Posterior Babies is: In Celebration Of The OP Baby, by one of my favourite midwife bloggers. Give it a read; I bet you’ll find it really reassuring!
Another resource you may find helpful is this paper on Association between fetal position at onset of labor and mode of delivery, which found:
There is no evidence of an association between the fetal LOA position at onset of labor and SVD [spontaneous vaginal birth]. This finding challenges the conventional theory that LOA is the optimum fetal position at onset of labor, and suggests that antenatal practices encouraging adoption of the LOA position through maternal posturing are unnecessary.