The placenta is attached to the uterus (attachment sites vary, as Plei can tell you, but are generally in the upper back section of the uterus), and the baby is attached to the placenta by her umbilical cord. The baby's not inside the placenta.

Edit: or, What Plei Said.

So it's like an extra layer of insulation between the uterine wall and the tummy, and the outside? It'll stretch thinner in the next two months though, right?

I remember seeing the baby kick on my friends' stomachs close to their due dates (boy, that's freaky) but they didn't AFAIK, have sac location issues.

The placenta is attached to the uterus (attachment sites vary, as Plei can tell you, but are generally in the upper back section of the uterus), and the baby is attached to the placenta by her umbilical cord. The baby's not inside the placenta.

Hey, Jen, I've been meaning to ask: is there any truth to the notion that back labor's more common with an anterior placenta? I ask in terror.

Mother, bless her, was quite cheerfully (if it's medical, cheerful is her default state, curse her RN self) describing her back labor with my sister, and it sounds most ooky.

When we had our birthing classes, the nurse described her three labors (all natural). The back labor sounded really painful.

When we had our birthing classes, the nurse described her three labors (all natural). The back labor sounded really painful.

Did she do it in a cheerfully matter-of-fact way? That's what was getting me. Also, the knowledge that my mother has the pain tolerance of a bull elephant on PCP.

Yeah, Brenda, that's him...I got to go on his radio show once and talk about sex. It was a proto-Bitch moment. Somebody called in and said I sounded like Roseanne Barr. I said "Oh, thank you so much!"(I thought she was a hoot and a half.) What I heard was "You are fucking hiliarious." The pause got longer. "I hate Roseanne Barr."(They thought the anthem thing was disrespectful.)

Kate, Raquel, and WindSparrow have new tags. And may I just say that, yes, mentioning me in your post does help, heh. I'm all, hi, uh, I don't see anything in your post about...oh.

Susan roooooocks.

Back to the thesis! Okay, first I make my LJ rounds, and then back to the thesis.

Did she do it in a cheerfully matter-of-fact way?

It was a little more rueful, like: "After two births, I thought I knew it all and when I taught these classes I think I drastically understated the kind of pain you get with back labor. So it was probably a little karma coming back on me."

is there any truth to the notion that back labor's more common with an anterior placenta?

I've never heard of that before; I do know back labor is more common if the baby's face is anterior.

I've never heard of that before; I do know back labor is more common if the baby's face is anterior.

I think the info I saw indicated that there was a correlation between face position and the position of the placenta, but it was all in the vague data category.

Hopefully, Princess Ticky Box will continue to prefer facing the other way, as frustrating as that has been for the ultrasound techs.

Also hopefully, she'll move her butt up top where it belongs. (from the feel of things, she's been transverse for the last couple of days)