MinnesotaBirth.com

Mother's job is to dilate --
Baby's job is to rotate!
Your baby will turn his or her head to fit through your pelvis during the childbirth process.
Most of the time your labor contractions  help the baby with this fetal rotation. Sometimes, though, the starting position of a baby’s head makes this rotation more difficult. Happily, you can do something about this!

Spinning Babies shows mothers and their partners ways to prepare for birth using maternal positions and exercises to help the baby's job of rotation happen more easily. Shorter labors, fewer interventions and fewer cesareans are reported by parents and birth professionals using the 3 Principles of Spinning Babies.

Use the top menu from right to left or  Begin here and read everything in that section. That will put you on the fast track.

1.) Belly Mapping 2.) In Pregnancy  3.) In Labor and soon to come, 4.) Classes (when they are available).

    I’m Gail Tully, a midwife and doula trainer, and this is my site.

During the second night of a long labor in 1986 the mother asked, “Why won’t this baby come out?!”  I heard myself say that her baby first had to spin around and face her back and then he would come out...he just had to spin around...

Ten years later, midwife, Jean Sutton, and childbirth educator, Pauline Scott, wrote Understanding and Teaching Optimal Foetal Positioning and revealed many ways to help us help the baby rotate. Deeply inspired I wanted to share their information with American parents (in American English). I’ve added many observations and lessons learned along the way. Today, Spinning Babies reaches parents, doulas, childbirth educators, midwives, nurses and doctors all around the world. See who else shaped my approach in About Spinning Babies.

Is Spinning Babies different than Optimal Fetal Positioning?

Doulas, midwives, nurses and doctors have noticed that simply changing a mother's position (maternal positioning) in pregnancy or labor doesn’t always work. Hands and knees position doesn’t always work to rotate a posterior baby to anterior. The breech-tilt doesn’t always help a breech baby flip around to head-down. That's why Spinning Babies offers 3 Principles, not just one, to address those mother-baby pairs that need a little bit more help.

Spinning Babies goes beyond maternal positioning to address the balance within the mother’s body to allow the baby to fix his or her own position.  

Spinning Babies recognizes that both the mother and the baby have their part to play.

Babies fit the available space.The point of Spinning Babies is that the womb came before the baby. Meet the needs of the mother and the baby will settle into the design of birth.

The baby will always get in the easiest position for birth
--whenever the baby finds it possible to do so.

The problem:  Some posterior babies can't rotate on their own.

First time mothers or mother's who had long labors, long pushing stages, or cesareans for either "failure to progress" or breech fetal positions in the past may benefit the most from optimal fetal positioning.

The solution:  Use this web site to reduce interventions in labor. It's simple to do. Just learn one or two techniques for each of the 3 Principles. If you need more, do more.

There is a "spectrum of ease" or difficulty to consider. Fortunately there are a few clues to guide mothers to the right level of effort for their birth preparations.

Don't most posterior babies rotate to an anterior position on their own in labor?

Yep.

And don't babies change position in labor?

Yes, but I don't believe fetal position change is random. See Myths about Occiput Posterior (OP) and my comments about Dr. Lieberman's wonderful research on fetal position changes. So, though most posterior babies will rotate, if given time in labor, and a few can be born without rotating, there are those posterior babies that can't, even with time. Spinning Babies is for those mothers and babies who face challenges with fetal position. 

Can Spinning Babies principles help breech babies get head down?

They sure can! See Flip a Breech in Baby Positions/Breech

Because babies fit the available space, there can be breech babies that can be born naturally with ease (with a provider trained in breech cardinal movements) and there are breech that need a cesarean. 

This is also true for head down babies, but a poorly trained midwife or doctor is less likely to cause trouble during a natural birth of a head down baby. Intrigued? Read more about breech.

The techniques described here were found around the world. But, "what to do when" is found right here. Your labor can be shorter and less painful--Easier, in other words, than a posterior labor. Here we see Penny Simkin and friend teaching maternal positioning.

But let's not be dogmatic about fetal positioning!

This family has just had a fast posterior birth. This, their second daughter, was born in three hours, start to finish. This mother's active life style, pelvic shape and vertical birthing position helped, of course.

One set of rules would never work for all women. Nor would one or two techniques work for all women. What we need is an understanding of the general relationship of our birthing baby with our opening body.  By applying the principles explained, you can set up your own individual program of activities in pregnancy or labor.

Why is baby’s position important?

A well positioned baby comes through the pelvis with the smallest diameters possible. In other words, the ideal birth positions help the head seem smaller!

The fetal position is optimal, or ideal, when:

Baby’s back is on the mother’s left side, or

Baby’s back is directly in front (anterior); and

Baby faces the mother’s right hip, or

Baby faces mother’s back; and

Baby’s chin is tucked to baby’s chest. Click to read about flexion.

Read about ideal breech positions in About Breech.

Labor then tends to be easier than when the baby is facing the front.

Labor with a good fetal starting position

Labor tends to start without induction more often.

Labor may begin closer to the due date and less often overdue.

The amniotic sac (membranes) tend to stay intact longer, reducing risk of infection and reducing the likelihood of Pitocin/Syntocyn augmentation

Women say they are happier with their labor experience.

Labor contractions be more “symmetrical,”

The labor pattern is more predictable.

Labor may be shorter.

A first time mother can learn to anticipate what’s next and how to cope with labor. (A doula is so helpful with this!)

Success with natural labor becomes more likely.

Babies tend to have higher 1-minute Apgars.

There is less pelvic floor and perineal “wear and tear.”

There are definitely fewer labors that finish with a cesarean.

Are there “bad” fetal positions?

If the baby fits, any position was good enough. Its not so much the position as it is the fit. This varies dramatically from woman to woman, birth-to-birth. There are no bad babies; no “stubborn” babies! 

The anterior fetal positions are generally considered ideal.

Baby positions that may be more challenging are posterior, asynclitic, breech, brow, and face presentations. A head that is deflexed or extended in any fetal position adds a challenge that sometimes requires a cesarean. If the baby’s body is transverse or oblique, and remain so in labor, a cesarean will be necessary. Learn more in Baby Positions.

Why start with balance?

The baby will pick the best position that the baby can settle in given the shape of the womb, maternal positions and active birth techniques (gravity and movement).

A posterior labor is different than an anterior labor

The position of a "sunny-side up baby," one facing the front, is called occiput posterior. A posterior baby fits less easily than the anterior baby. A posterior baby's head seems bigger because of the angle it’s in when in the pelvis.

Other posterior babies come out with little fuss. Don’t panic because the baby is posterior! Most posterior babies rotate around to the anterior during labor.

The great thing is women and birth support persons can do something helpful for fetal positioning, even in labor. When labor is long it is good to be patient.

Spinning Babies is the active part of patience.

A pregnant woman’s posture matters. A woman uses gravity to help her baby into an optimal fetal position.

There are more details than this, but essentially this has described Optimal Fetal Positioning. 

Does this work?

Little research is available and what has been done really doesn’t look at the holistic, big picture. Much of what I share is observed knowledge. Read more about medical research and Gail’s observations for fetal positioning under Research. There are plenty of stories of how these techniques worked for women.

What if these techniques don’t work?

One set of rules would never work for all women. One or two techniques would never work of all women. It is remarkable, however, that just a few techniques work for most women!

Those few that need extra help can set up an individual program of activities in pregnancy and again in labor.

Read When to be concerned; CPD; and Professional Help.

How to use this website

Make it simple – do the forward leaning inversion everyday, Rest Smart and avoid unfriendly positions. See what to do in Techniques, What to do first in pregnancy.

Or learn all about it by going more in depth with Spinning Babies lessons and membership (coming soon). A small, annual membership fee maintains this work.

Everything you need for a good birth is in the free part of this website.

You can do activities before and during labor that help the baby rotate sooner or more easily. These activities and techniques may even reduce the need for medical interventions. Not all, but most women will find this information helpful and useful. You can use this web site to reduce interventions in labor.

This website honors birth as nature intended. Your baby is an active member of the birth.

The baby will always get in the easiest position for birth

--whenever the baby finds it possible to do so.

Head down is only half the story.

Many parents think that as long as the baby is head down in the womb the baby is ready for birth. And it certainly is a relief to find out the baby is not breech (buttocks coming through the pelvis before the head is born).

When should I start Spinning Babies?

Read about this and more in About Spinning Babies, Frequently Asked Questions.

Hands and Knees position is not enough!

Read when the Hands and Knees position works and why sometimes something else is needed in Hands and Knees.

Important: For some women, simply getting into a gravity-friendly position won’t rotate their baby. To see if you are one of the women who need to use a series of techniques before 8 months gestation to avoid a surgical birth, go to the article, Hard labor--Me?.

Its important to work with an experienced midwife or physician who can assess labor progress and mother and baby’s well being.

Belly Mapping will help you understand your baby’s position - in your last trimester of pregnancy. Start doing the forward-leaning inversion as early as 10 weeks gestation to help the baby be head down at the end of pregnancy! You don’t have to know your baby’s position. Used properly, these techniques work for all positions without making an anterior baby posterior!

Each woman has unique needs during pregnancy and birth. Each baby has their own story, too.

Welcome to a perspective on birth that trusts birthing women, borning babies, mother nature, gut instinct, and Divine intercession.

I can’t promise you that all women have an easier time when they do these techniques. But, over and over again, success if found by most women. Keep sending the emails and stories. I hope to hear if Spinning Babies made a difference in your birth. And when it didn’t, I want to hear that, too.

Every thing that most parents need to know will be in the free sections of this website. Please donate if and when you can. A little bit is a big boost! Join the pay-to-use section for more in depth discussion and education. Have a wonderful birth!