need insight from birth professionals- long post

[ebbb]

Hello,
I am trying to process through the events of my first birth and have some questions I hope you all can answer. I had a vaginal birth, but my daughter was born facing my right leg (I guess that would be transverse?). She had a shoulder dystocia. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear.

All thoroughout my labour I was attended to by 1 nurse who would check me every hour to see how far along my labour was. It was not until my doctor came after I had fully dialated and my daughter was well into the birth canal I think, that I was told that she was facing the wrong way.

What I am wondering is, when you are checking a mom during her labour, how early on can you tell if the baby is facing the wrong way, and is there a certain point where no matter what you do, the baby won't move or change positions?

Should the nurse have known the position was wrong and tried to help move the baby by getting me into different positions? I laboured in the same position the whole time because I thought it was working, but would have moved if I had known what to do.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks

Also, is it common for babies in this position during delivery to end up in a c-section?

[cileag]

To answer your first question, sometimes it's very easy to tell a malpositioned baby and sometimes it is not. Things that might make it harder:
inexperienced nurse--it took me a long time to recognize what an OP or transverse baby "felt" like
lots of hair
unmedicated mom (or someone for whom vaginal exams are very painful)
an unusual lie in and of itself sometimes makes the markers (usually the fontanels) harder to distinguish

Also, if a labor was progressing "normally" and mom was coping well with contractions, I probably wouldn't think that there was any unusual positioning either. Also, sometimes those tricky babies turn.

It sounds like you are having some difficulty coming to grips with how your birth ended up. Have you spoken to a support group or a friend about it?