What does sunny side up baby delivery mean? One of my friends went on to deliver a baby boy, but she did experience a lot of back pain that emerged in the later stages of pregnancy. She was advised a C section delivery and one of the reasons being provided was that the baby was sunny side up. Most of us would have heard about breech birth, but sunny side up delivery is somewhat an unheard phenomenon of sorts. One thing is for sure it works out to be an abnormal position for a baby.

In medical terms it is referred to as OP position. The head of the baby is turning but it is being done in a wrong way. The back portion of the head, the occiput, is in a posterior which does mean that the face of the little one is pressed against the pubic bone. The baby does find it difficult to extend their head out from the pubic bone. What it does indicate is that the process of labor is going to be difficult and tedious.

More know how about an OP position?

A lot of studies have been conducted on OP position, what it does point to delivery and how it could be prevented as well. What the studies have to indicate is depicted below

• This position is all the more common in the starting stage of labor, and roughly around 30 % of pregnancies are affected by the same
• Most of the babies are likely to return back to the normal position by the time of delivery. In case of 5 % of babies there is only persistent OP
• If OP is persistent, it does indicate that some form of assisted birth is needed. Research does point to the fact that 20 to 30 % of babies have OP are delivered by C section
• The chances of a persistent OP is all the more during the first trimester of pregnancy. In terms of figures this risk is pegged at 7 %

What is to be done if a baby has persistent OP?

It is not only a C section delivery if a baby has persistent OP, but operative delivery could also be a worthwhile option. A manual rotation of the baby is performed, coupled with maternal posturing. It indicates a position on the knees or hands, with the chest leaning forward whereby the back is being stretched out. It does go on to reduce the back pain, but on the basis of evidence available, this has an impact on OP position for sure. Maternal posturing could lead to early labor as well.

The good news that emerges is that even if the pregnancy starts with a baby being sunny side up, it is bound to get back to a normal position by the time of delivery. It would be great if posturing could work in favour of the odds, but till now it has been of no help.