Some babies will flip on their own before labor, some will not. Some will flip during labor, some will not. If the baby does not flip before labor, odds are your labor will be longer and harder (not the experience of everyone, but the experience of many). Especially if this is your first baby.
My (first) baby was posterior going into labor. She also had an acynclitic (tipped) head. This is fairly common with posterior babies, because they just don't fit into the pelvis quite right when they're posterior (and I have a HUGE pelvis, as evidenced by the lack of back labor).
I had prodromal labor for 3 or 4 days before "real" labor started. This was likely due to baby's position, as I think my body was trying to get her to turn. She stayed posterior, and I was utterly exhausted by the time "real" labor started, because I hadn't had much sleep in many days.
Once "real" labor started, I progressed extremely slowly. This was due to the tipped head. It wasn't applying even pressure to the cervix, so I was effacing unevenly (thinner on one side, thicker on the other). This meant my dilation went very slow. It took 24 hours to dilate to 4-5 cm (all natural birth, no pain meds, no induction). I labored at home with a doula/midwife for those 24 hours before going to the hospital-based birth center (as planned). If I'd been at the hospital during that time, I likely would have been induced for "lack of progress", would have begged for an epidural, would have been stuck on my back, my baby would not have turned, and I would have ended up with a c/s. I know this with all my heart, and it's why I didn't go in for an epidural, even though I was exhausted, in pain, and desperately wanted one.
My baby did end up turning at some point, although I don't know when. The midwife/doula had me doing lunges, hands/knees, etc. It was a brutal and exhausting labor. It was also very hard on my baby -- she had heavy meconium staining from the stress, and was taken from me right after the birth and deep suctioned, which caused severe emotional trauma and serious nursing problems (but that is another story).
I advise trying to get your baby to turn. You've gotten some good references, but I'll add one more to the list.
Craniosacral therapy can also be used to turn posterior (and breech) babies. I go for an appt every few weeks right now, as it also helps with pregnancy aches and pains, and I also use it to process emotional trauma, etc. I've spoken at length with my practitioner about working on the baby's positioning as we near the end of term. She is also going to try to attend my birth if she is available. I can't recommend this highly enough. The woman we see charges $65/session, so it's pretty reasonable. You can search for a practitioner
here. Call and ask if they have experience with this type of thing. FYI, some chiros are trained in CST, so you might be able to find one who knows the Webster technique, CST, etc., and get more bang for your buck. If you're in the Metro Detroit area, I can help you.
Good luck. I hope you get your babe to turn. And don't get induced!!!!!!
). I wish that I would've been give advice on what to do to get her to turn beforehand.
If there was a time I could go back to in my life, it would be the day that I went into labor. I wish my Dr. would have checked her positioning past "she's head down", as we didn't find out she was posterior until I was almost to pushing. I had very little back labor with her, which is probably strange.
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