Emergency Cesarean Section

ALL HANDS ON DECK! This week our Vet Student course had an emergency cesarean section (aka C-Section). After a game capture for a reserve owner, we were asked to assist us for advice on his dog. Cesarean sections can be common in practice but they are used as an emergency procedure to help in whelping (dog giving birth) or with certain breeds who are known to have dystocia (difficulty giving birth).  For this procedure to take place, the bitch, mother dog, goes under anesthesia while the vet makes an abdominal incision to reach the uterus which has been the home for the puppies for the past few months. It’s the vet’s job to incise the uterus without harming the puppies and pull them out. Once the puppies are out, they are handing off in a sterile fashion to an assistant to wake the up, warm them, and get them to take their first breaths in this world. The vet will continue to pull out more puppies until they are all out of the uterus and handed off. Next the vet will suture close the uterus and the rest of the body linings. After, the bitch is to be awoken from the anesthesia under close eye of another assistant. The vet will then assess the puppies to determine if there are any abnormalities. Our students did a great job at assisting the vet and learning to care for newborn puppies. Check out the pics below!

Great Job Team!