Best Labor Positions for... Back Pain

This month, we're sharing a lot about labor positions. The good news is that there are many different labor positions to use throughout labor, in nearly any birth scenario. Today, we're covering labor positions that help during back pain or "back labor." Often, back labor pain occurs when baby is facing up and the hardest part of baby's head is against your tailbone, otherwise known as "occiput posterior" or "OP." Ideally, to soothe back labor, baby will rotate to face down sometime during labor. Your goals with finding ideal positions for back labor pain are to get baby to rotate and reduce the pain. Many of the positions below not only take the weight and pressure off of your back, but they also allow access to your back to relieve pain with massage, counter pressure, ice, and heat.

Ideal Positions for Reducing Back Labor Pain

Leaning while Standing

Leaning while Kneeling

Hands & Knees/On All Fours

Supported by Water/Birth Tub

Backward Chair Sitting

Slow Dancing

Standing/Kneeling Asymmetrical Lunge

Photos are from Penny Simkin's The Birth Partner. These positions will help encourage baby to rotate into a more comfortable and easier position for labor and birth.

Abdominal Lift and Tuck 
One final technique for helping a baby out of the OP position is called the Abdominal Lift and Tuck and was introduced by Childbirth Educator Janie McCoy King in her book Back Labor No More (2000). The pelvis is normally at a slight tilt forward and this technique levels it out – making it easier for the baby to find space to turn into the anterior position.  This technique is done during contractions with the laboring woman’s feet starting shoulder width apart.  Then the partner (standing behind her) or the woman herself lifts the bump roughly two inches upwards while the woman flattens her back -  causing her pelvis to tuck in.  The bump is gently released when the contraction is over.  It is suggested that this be repeated for ten contractions in a row for the best chance of success. 

Photo © Mindy Cockeram, 2026

Originally published 02/15/2017
Reviewed June 2026

Published: June 03, 2026

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