Inducing Labor

[Maryann Marsh]

Just wanted to let everyone know that after much discussion with Alpaca Rosa (who posted here about inducing their girl,) Dr. Jane Dewitt who has much experience on inducing and has been for 2 years now and our own vet, if our maiden Chai doesn't give birth by Thurs. evening, we will be inducing for a Friday birth. She has been huge for a month and is now 21 days past due. Usually not a big deal for us but being a maiden, been huge for a month now and becoming very uncomfortable, we believe this is the best thing for her. The vet will be here for the birth if there are any issues. I am scared to death!

[Don Marquette]

Hi Janet,

We do inductions every so often. In our region, we have thousands of breeders, so word travels fast. Induction is spreading fast because of the benefits it offers. There is risk, dont get me wrong, but it is a calculated risk removing some of Mother Natures wicked temper. there is also the risk of the unknown that is fortunately becoming known.


Personally, I dont believe that dams know when to go into labor, anymore than humans know when to go into labor.
Mother Nature can be a very cruel teacher. She has taught me that late term crias (anything over 300 days) tend to break placentas and umbilicals, and get into severe dystocias. As far as Im concerned , anyone letting a pregnancy go 13 months is risking dam and cria , when there are safe alternatives. Induction being one of these tools. Radiographs are often used to determine the maturity of the cria before induction.

just an observation based on your facts, 13.5 lbs at 13 months gestation? A later unknown accidental breeding sounds logical in this instance using lbs and months as my guide, but I realize 13 month can supposebly happen. Assuming the 13 months gestation, That means that the cria is gaining approx 1 lb per month. So if you had induced at 11.5 months, the cria might have weighed approx 12lbs, no big deal as far as Im concerned , only with much less risk of placenta or umbilical detaching. Just had a freind deliver a 10lb cria with Mother Natures clock. whats the diffference?

I realize that some will say the dams body can shut down anytime during pregnancy therefore the cria might have only been 10lbs at 11.5 months., well then, that would also suggest it could shut down the last 2 months and therefore possible that cria could have been 13.5 lbs at 11.5 months .

Some of the uninformed induction breeders love to throw out the idea that induction "can" force dysmaturity. Well, we have not seen it in any of our inductions yet( I know we eventually will), however, we see it all the time when Mother Nature is left up to her own devices. You know the ones; floppy ears, no teeth abruption, down on pasterns, etc.... If she (Mother Nature) knows all, why does she start labor when a preemie is inside?

I only point this out because there are many questions that go unanswered. We are all still learning. With more vets getting invloved with inductins, I guarantee we will all be learning much more in near future. There have been too many unknown assumptions about alpaca gestation to allow anyone to know all. So I suggest that everyone have an open mind, listen to what breeders are learning about induction, and possibly help the future alpaca breeders and if nothing else, save a cria life!.

Don
The AlpacaRosa

[Autumn Sun Alpacas (MLivingston)]

BTW -- just wanted to update that I was off by a few weeks. It was end of July that she was due. But that still makes her almost 2 months. We will wait a little while longer to see, but I don't think our vet is real keen on inducing.

Note in response to Don's email -- We understand you comments about how cruel Mother Nature can decide to be. Our dam that died in dystocia for a large overdue cria died very painfully with lots of internal damage as the cria struggled to get out. Honestly, that was the hardest to know. I was with her at the last bit, when she was put down, and it is something I will remember. Sadly, we lost both as the cria also aspirated at the very end, though we got him out. He died a few hours later despite our best attempts.

[Maryann Marsh]

I can not stress enough that you have to be 100% certain of the breeding dates and yes, it is possible that the egg didnt get fertilized until a bit later but never have I heard of 2 months. I can also say that unless my girls were bred here on my farm, then it's never 100%. I would have your vet do an exam and ultrasound to see what is going on. When we induced Chai, my vet did an exam at the 21 hours after inducing and did feel the cria in birthing position so we knew it would be soon.

[Raelene Strong]

Good luck with this.,
we have never induced an alpaca, and it is not often done, but under vet supervision, you should be ok.