Is this a normal female guppy labor position?

[biofish]

Run down: I bought this female guppy about 3 weeks ago, pregnant. But the quarantine tank she was in for a couple weeks started having ammonia problems, which caused her to hold her fry in and spend hours swimming at the top of the tank not moving. Since then, the ammonia problem has been fixed and she’s been transferred into the main tank for about a week. And. Well. I noticed her doing this position last night and lo and behold there were fry in the tank this morning. So far I’ve managed to save 8 of the 11 fry I’ve seen. Two were gobbled up and one was deformed so they died pretty quick. She’s started swimming around normally but keeps returning to this position; head down tail up. I think she’s currently in labor because every time I check the tank there’s a couple more fry. Pardon the algae. It’s not as bad as it looks, she just happened to be where it’s worst. She’s the only one swimming this way in the tank.

I was honestly fully expecting her to abort the fry, kinda hoping she would to improve her survival chance. I didn’t notice the ammonia problem right away because the symptoms she displayed mimicked labor. But it looks like she’s pretty much fully recovered from that. Besides her pregnancy being a lot late.

the fry are also insanely small. They’re only my second batch ever but they look significantly smaller than my first batch.

 

[biofish]

Update: successfully extracted another fry. So 9/12 fry.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I suppose she's doing what works for her.
Granted, the ammonia would not have helped matters, but you resolved that.
Perhaps if you covered the tank so it was all dark, she'd feel less stressed? Guppies giving birth nearly always get harassed by other fish looking for a free meal.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

In my experience they really appreciate floating plants for their fry to hide in. I had my kribs in the guppy tank temporarily and my female was holding off giving birth too. I had received a bunch of plants for the krib tank and I just let them float in the guppy tank for a day until I was ready to plant them. Next morning I found guppy fry everywhere hiding in and amongst the plants

 

[jonny-5]

Agree with Bruce, Darkness will make her feel less stressed & at the same time give any remaining fry a chance to sneak & hide under the cover of darkness. Sometimes my Guppys do the head down tail up thing while giving birth so i would say its almost normal birthing process. The ammonia problem would of stressed her, No doubt about that......Also having fry not long after the problem (although now rectified) may have contributed to the deformed or weak fry(s).
Although its very exciting to see new fry i would leave the tank alone for a few days so guppy mom is not any more stressed with a net being waved around the tank. If you spot more fry, Leave them until your next water change & collect them then. If there are plants or hiding places they will survive

 

[biofish]

Y’all… I think she’s still in labor. Every couple days I find more fry. I thought at first it was the other ladies having their fry but the one in the picture is still making that position. She was swimming around normally for a few days but today she’s really doing it. I found four more fry this morning when I woke up. Took them out. Watched carefully for 15 minutes and didn’t see any more, and then decided to do a water change because all the fry catching had stirred up the debris. And. Well. All was well until I went to go fill the water back in and there were MORE FRY. I don’t even know how many there have been this past week.

I honestly don’t know who’s having babies at this point. None of the other females looked overly pregnant and the one in the picture still has a tummy