Have you heard of OFP which is optimal fetal positioning? This is a technique to encourage your baby into an anterior position by changing your posture especially when you are in a sitting down position. What you are trying to do when using this technique is tilt your pelvis forward, not backwards so if you are in a sitting position, always make sure that your knees are lower than your hips. To help you, try these following tips:
- When you are sitting in your armchair, if your bottom goes down and your knees are higher than your hips then you can turn the chair around so it is facing the other way. Then kneel on the seat of the chair and lean forward over the back
- Use a birthing ball to lean forward over whilst watching television
- There is something to be said for the old wives’ tale that scrubbing the kitchen floor prepares you for labour. When you get on all fours the back of your baby’s head will move to the front of your tummy
- If you are doing a lot of sitting during the day make sure you have regular getting up and moving around breaks
- When you are driving, sit on a cushion to raise your bottom
You do not need to worry about what position you should be in to sleep during your pregnancy as your baby is not being pushed down into your pelvis. In later pregnancy the most comfortable position is to lie on your side.
There are records going back to the nineteenth century of ‘maternal posturing’ but the term optimal fetal positioning has been used since the 1990s when a midwife called Jean Sutton publicized the technique. Sutton’s advice to pregnant women was to get into forward leaning and upright postures as regularly as possible in their late pregnancies. Some midwives are skeptical of the technique and question whether it is just something else for expectant mothers to fret about. OFP studies have shown that getting into the all fours position for ten minutes, twice daily at the end of your pregnancy can help you move your baby into an anterior position.
However, OFP does not seem to have an effect on how your baby is laying at birth. It is recommended to stay in forward and upright postures as regularly as possible during your normal daily routine rather than spasmodically.
You may find that even though you have regularly practiced OFP during your pregnancy your baby has still settled in a posterior position and this is usually because of your pelvis shape, not your posture. Once labour begins and you find that your baby is in a posterior position you can still try using the upright and forward postures to encourage your baby to move and also relieve some of your pain. Most babies get themselves into an anterior position when their mothers are pushing regardless of what position they were in at the beginning of labour.
You may find that you have twinges of pain days before your labour starts and this could be your baby trying to get into an anterior position. If you experience this niggling pain you can try the following:
- Get as much rest as you can at night
- Stay as upright and active as you can during the day
- During contractions lean forwards
- Keep your strength up by eating and drinking regularly
- Try to keep a positive and relaxed state of mind
By Eirian Hallinan