AFTER the dust settles and everything's taken care of, we might say something about prenatal care, preparation, and Having a Plan other than posting on FR!
wndy, good luck with your litter . . . hope all goes well. What breed do you have? (I'm a Lab person)
>Well, it's a little late in the day to offer criticism about what's already under way<
Yep. Dystocia in a Toy breed can and does kill, without Veterinary intervention (when it's needed). Thank goodness Vetvetdoug happened upon the post. I was out last evening (at a meeting planning next year's local dawg show, as a matter of fact).
Advice that may work with a large breed, can kill a Toy bitch. Some bitches will whelp the first couple of pups, and then require a shot of Oxytocin or a C-section to rescue the last baby. Uterine inertia happens fairly often in Papillons.
The last litter I whelped (this past December) had me hanging onto the front end of the momma (who really, really wanted to bite me, and I can't blame her) while a red-faced Vet struggled to pull the very large first pup into the world. Little scamp was stuck tight as a cork (c;
If I'd "left her alone to let nature take its course", I'd have lost my girl dog, not to mention the 2 babies.
I used to have Labs too but now I have Beagles. I find the Beagles easier but they have their challenges too. I didn't mean to be hard on the origional poster, who seems to have vanished anyway, but I know how often things can go wrong even if you do everything right. Asking this forum for whelping advice just seems like the longest way to go to "get there" in an emergency ;)