How to help your baby into an anterior position
There is a lot of talk nowadays about how to get the baby to enter the pelvis in an anterior rather than a posterior position. This is called 'optimal foetal positioning'. You can encourage your baby to take up an anterior position by making sure that your knees are always lower than your hips:
Sit on a cushion in your car to lift your bottom up
Check that your favourite chair doesn't make your bottom go down and your knees come up
Take regular breaks and move around if your job involves a lot of sitting
Watch television on all fours for ten minutes every day
Scrub all your floors and skirting boards our grannies used to say that washing the kitchen floor was a good way of preparing for labour. And they were right! When you are on all fours, the back of your baby's head swings to the front of your abdomen.
Incidentally, you don't have to worry about getting your baby into position when you're in bed. When you're lying horizontally, your baby is not being pushed down into your pelvis. It's when you're upright that he'll enter the pelvis either in an anterior or a posterior position.
Getting ready for labour
If you are expecting your first baby, you should start to adopt the lifestyle described in the previous section at around 35 weeks of pregnancy. This is when your baby sinks down into your pelvis, and this is the time to get his position right. If you are expecting your second baby, even though the baby won't engage in your pelvis until later, it's still wise to try to keep his back facing the front of your tummy from about 35 weeks.
Sometimes women have a lot of niggly pains for several days before labour really starts. These can be very exhausting. However, the pains might well be due to the fact that your baby is trying to turn from a posterior position into an anterior. The best way to cope is to try and get as much rest as possible during the night, and during the day to remain upright and active, leaning forwards during the pains. Eat and drink regularly to keep up your strength. And don't despair. Nature is getting your baby into the best position for birth.
