The patient observer: does the hands-and-knees posture during labor help to rotate the occiput posterior fetus?

Retrospective chart review was conducted for four low-risk women with full-term, healthy fetuses in the occiput posterior position. The first woman pushed for over two hours and delivered a 6 lb, 8 3/4 oz baby by cesarean section. The second woman delivered a 5 lb, 2 3/4 oz baby posteriorly by vacuum extraction and had a third-degree laceration. The third and fourth women both assumed the hands-and-knees posture during labor; their infants weighted 7 lb, 7 3/4 oz and 7 lb, 11 3/4 oz, respectively. Both of these fetuses rotated to the anterior position and were born spontaneously without complications.