Back labor vs what else?

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Okay, I have no experience with childbirth, I’ve never even held a baby under 6 months of age, and I’m confused… I’ve read in a few threads about how terrible back labor is. I’ve seen birth shows and stuff, and that seems to be the only way people give birth. :confused: What, exactly, is back labor, why is it so bad, why would you ever need to do it if it was bad, and what are the alternatives?
Thank you in advance, mommies. ^^
 
I’ve never had back labor (I’m a mom of 3 under 3), but I’ve heard that it is very painful and I’m very thankful that I’ve never had to experience it. One of my friends had it and her baby was posterior. Is that the case with most back labor?
 
Back labor is basicly a feeling like someone is slowly trying to snap your spine in half or carve discs out with dull knives - all without humane drugs.
Many women never expereince this, so don’t borrow worry.
Of course, having have had it several times myself - I worry rather too much about it. Having had it does not mean it will happen every time. Or even the entire labor.
There is no comparison to my knowledge.
**The up side is that once you have had it, laboring without it is a complete breeze.😊 **
 
I’ve seen birth shows and stuff, and that seems to be the only way people give birth.
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It doesn’t have to do with the way you give birth - lying on your back, squatting, sitting in a tub, etc. but with the way your body labors and it’s something you have no control over.

It’s like Rob’s Wife said: “Back labor is basicly a feeling like someone is slowly trying to snap your spine in half or carve discs out with dull knives.” Exactly. I’ve only ever had “back labors” with my pregnancies and people I know who’ve had both tell me back labor is far, far worse.
 
back labor is often caused by a posterior presentation: meaning the baby is facing your tummy so the hardest part of his head is putting pressure on your spine

go to www.spinningbabies.com for info on how to avoid a posterior presentation to begin with:thumbsup:
 
Thank you all for your replies (spinningbabies looks full of info!), but my question(s) still really haven’t be answered… what other way are there to give birth? I’ve heard of underwater birth, but wouldn’t you be on your back for that one, too? Again, why would you ever need to give birth on your back if it’s that painful? It sounds absolutely awful! x.x
 
Back labor has nothing to do with laying on your back. It has to do with WHERE and HOW you feel labor and it’s the way the baby is laying that causes that problem. Most contractions are felt in the front–like STRONG menstral cramps. Women who experience back labor feel the pain in their backs and it’s MUCH more painful than a “normal” labor.

FYI, you can labor walking around, in a tub, in a rocking chair, on a birth ball, squatting, sitting in bed, or whatever.

Hope that answers your questions!

Jennifer
 
Jennifer_J said:
Back labor has nothing to do with laying on your back. It has to do with WHERE and HOW you feel labor and it’s the way the baby is laying that causes that problem. Most contractions are felt in the front–like STRONG menstral cramps. Women who experience back labor feel the pain in their backs and it’s MUCH more painful than a “normal” labor.

FYI, you can labor walking around, in a tub, in a rocking chair, on a birth ball, squatting, sitting in bed, or whatever.

Hope that answers your questions!

Jennifer
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Ooooh! That makes sense! Now I understand what a previous poster was getting at. ^^;;
Thank you very much! I understand now. 😃
 
Well I wandered into this thread and as i wander out i keep thinking “Gee im glad I am a Man…”
 
I’ve heard that laboring/pushing while on your back is one of the least effective ways of going about it, and ways utilizing gravity are a lot more effective. I’ve had two so far, and both of them sped, sped, SPED out the birth canal, so I never had to worry about alternate positions. In fact, baby no. two was out in 1 1/2 pushes, and my husband had to catch him, since it was only he and another nurse in the room- and the nurse was busy trying to get people to come help. 🙂

But yes, on the baby shows one’s likely to see, it’s usually the woman on her back, either on a bed or in a water tub. I think because, for the interest of modesty, it’s easier to be discreet filming women in that position rather than some others. 😉

Of course, that sort of begs the question, is modesty really such a high concern for women who agree to be on these shows?
 
estesbob said:
Well I wandered into this thread and as i wander out i keep thinking “Gee im glad I am a Man…”
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I don’t think I’ve been this freaked out since I learned what an episiotomy was. shudder

Perhaps God was wise in deciding that I would need to adopt if I wanted kids. I don’t think I’m tough enough to handle pregnancy/childbirth. All of you moms seem like Wonder Woman to me. :o
 
spacecadet said:
back labor is often caused by a posterior presentation: meaning the baby is facing your tummy so the hardest part of his head is putting pressure on your spine
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Yup, and yup. My back labor was caused by my son’s head being tilted and caught. Apparently he was very uncomfortable too. The nurses in the NICU told me they have a lot of babies who aspirate meconium when stressed from their head being tilted and caught like that. All of the moms reported back labor.

My OB told me to tell this baby to straighten up and fly right so I wouldn’t go through it again. 😉
 
lol what a timely thread. My little one is MOST DEFINATELY posterier…She doesn’t seem to care that I’ve been doing my pelvic rocks and haunting that Spinning Babies site mentioned above.

Oh well. I begged God “any position…just not breech!! Just please not breech!! I really really don’t want a c-section!!” Looks like I’ve have some excellent suffering to offer up :rolleyes:
 
LittleDeb said:
Yup, and yup. My back labor was caused by my son’s head being tilted and caught. Apparently he was very uncomfortable too. The nurses in the NICU told me they have a lot of babies who aspirate meconium when stressed from their head being tilted and caught like that. All of the moms reported back labor.
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this happened with DD’s last one. their hospital was filming certain labors and deliveries for a local PBS series and hers was so dramatic they made the cut.
 
Both my labors were back labors because my boys were born posterior…
As they travel down the birth canal babies are suppossed to be born face DOWN, but if they’re posterior they’re face UP… which means as the lean their head back… their skull rubs down your spine, which can be very painful.
 
mesquite_magic said:
:rotfl:

:eek: I read this to my dh and he asked, “how do you wander into that thread?”

Kim
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I thought it was about whether one should back organized labor!

Both if my girls , BTW, were delivered with a minimum of fuss(well at least on my part). I was present for both and this was back in the days when the Doctors really didnt want you to watch.

My little brother had the unfortunate experices of being presnt when they decided they neded to do a c-section. He woke up in the revcovery room with his wife-a nasty bruise on his forhead caused when he passed out and fell off his stool.
 
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