Info on Midwives?

I know this may appear strange but does anyone have any info on midwives that would be willing to do a house call for a pregnant doggy?

The local vets do have an ultrasound scanner but it can be quite a stressful procedure for some dogs and the scanner does not have a doppler attached so you cannot hear any heartbeats, only see them on the screen. The vet won't do a housecall for something like this.

I thought that the only alternative would be if a midwife that had her fetal heartbeat monitor came to the house and just listened for any heartbeats to confirm they are alright. Or if anyone has a fetal heartbeat monitor that would be willing to lend it for a day that would be even better?

We do strange things for our animals..lol

Equipment such as feotal heart monitors can be bought on ebay at fairly reasonable prices. Considering that pregnant women are forbidden from even gardening when in that condition, sharing equipment with animals would be a big 'no no' as well.
Also considering that the entire maternity programme in the area is currently running on a shoestring budget, I doubt very much if the resources would be available.

If the monotor picked up anything abnormal( which I doubt), what would you do? An elective removal of the affected animal? Premature induction?

Just let your dog do her job and she will be fine. If anything is not well, she will let you know very quickly (unlike humans, other mamals instictively know whats going on and exactly what they have to do the great majority of the time)

Having had a litter of dane pups before I can honestly say that IMO taking the dog to the vets should be fine - unless of course she's a very flighty or nervy animal, which I doubt cos you wouldn't be breeding from her if she was.
I took my dane bitch to the vet to have her scan and she was fine, didn't find it stressfull at all.
Do you mind me asking what the reason for wanting a scan is? If it's simply curiosity then I'd say stay well alone especially if it's evident that she's pregnant and you don't need it to establish a pregnancy.
If it's to find out if she's pregnant and not just having a phantom then I'd seriously consider taking her if you feel the need to know.

At the end of the day, you know you're bitch more than anyone and I'm sure you'll do what you think is best for her, I just wanted to let you know what my experience of scanning was. Also, just bear in mind that it's not 100% accurate and can be hard to read sometimes, so if it's a head count you wanted then take it with a pinch of salt. My vet managed to catch sight of 4 pups, she ended up having 10, so don't get complacent when she's having them thinking they've all arrived cos the number matches what the vet said. At the end of the day the vet can only tell you what he see's at that particular moment.

Good luck with the pups, don't envy the worry and stress you're about to go through though but i'll certainly keep my fingers crossed for you. It'd be great if you could keep posting and let us know how it's all going.
Do you mind me asking what breed your dog is?

Thanks all for your replies... my answers...

When were pregnant women not advised to do gardening? Unless things have changed drastically or you are a high risk pregnancy I've never heard of anyone not being advised to restrict what they do... they certainly never used to when I had kids and that wasn't that long ago. Lifting etc is out of course and high reach stretching which is only common sense. Comment - what's even worse is not telling a pregnant woman that she doesn't have any immunity to German Measles while she's carrying - isn't that more of a risk?

I wasn't intending for a midwife to come out while she was on duty, it would purely have been to ask for information and take it from there.

Not all vets are good with animals - I have experience of this and not all vets do what's best for your dog - Generally scanning SHOULD be stress free but when the vet has actually scratched your dog with the clipper blades that's a bad start. Dogs do not need to be scanned on their sides but the local vets have it in their head that this is the norm. I also understand about negative and false readings.

As to picking up anything abnormal - Sometimes you can't let nature take its course, pups do die in the uterine horns and can lead to pyometra if they are not resorbed. A mummified pup will not necessarily induce labour in a dog and by the time you have realised she has this condition it can already be well advanced. Generally animals do know what they are doing but you also need to know the score and what is going on with your dog.

Porshiepoo - did you have to lift your dane up onto a table and lay her on her side? I have a Lab and she is not a nervy or flighty animal but the attitude of the vet wasn't very nice, she didn't once try to settle her. There is no need to have a dog the size of a Lab on a table for scanning (as other vets have pointed out to me) but this vet in question insisted it had to be done. This was the biggest mistake I ever made as my dog now hates the vets.

Maybe I am being a bit sensitive today but please do not assume that I don't know what I am doing, this is not the first time I have done this and I have done a lot of research regarding this. I am also in regular contact with very experienced breeders (30 years+) and they have all told me that most vets do not know enough about mating/breeding/whelping.

For the record....

You can garden when pregnant, you are just meant to wear gloves as there is a risk of coming across "toxoplasmosis" which is extremely dangerous for a pregnant woman. Toxoplasmosis can be picked up from cat poo.... which is commonly found in gardens.... hence the need for precaution.

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Originally Posted by crustyroll

Thanks all for your replies... my answers...

When were pregnant women not advised to do gardening? Unless things have changed drastically or you are a high risk pregnancy I've never heard of anyone not being advised to restrict what they do... they certainly never used to when I had kids and that wasn't that long ago. Lifting etc is out of course and high reach stretching which is only common sense. Comment - what's even worse is not telling a pregnant woman that she doesn't have any immunity to German Measles while she's carrying - isn't that more of a risk?

I wasn't intending for a midwife to come out while she was on duty, it would purely have been to ask for information and take it from there.

Not all vets are good with animals - I have experience of this and not all vets do what's best for your dog - Generally scanning SHOULD be stress free but when the vet has actually scratched your dog with the clipper blades that's a bad start. Dogs do not need to be scanned on their sides but the local vets have it in their head that this is the norm. I also understand about negative and false readings.

As to picking up anything abnormal - Sometimes you can't let nature take its course, pups do die in the uterine horns and can lead to pyometra if they are not resorbed. A mummified pup will not necessarily induce labour in a dog and by the time you have realised she has this condition it can already be well advanced. Generally animals do know what they are doing but you also need to know the score and what is going on with your dog.

Porshiepoo - did you have to lift your dane up onto a table and lay her on her side? I have a Lab and she is not a nervy or flighty animal but the attitude of the vet wasn't very nice, she didn't once try to settle her. There is no need to have a dog the size of a Lab on a table for scanning (as other vets have pointed out to me) but this vet in question insisted it had to be done. This was the biggest mistake I ever made as my dog now hates the vets.

Maybe I am being a bit sensitive today but please do not assume that I don't know what I am doing, this is not the first time I have done this and I have done a lot of research regarding this. I am also in regular contact with very experienced breeders (30 years+) and they have all told me that most vets do not know enough about mating/breeding/whelping.

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Hang on a darn pickin minute, that seems like a very defensive response there Crustyroll.
I for one was just trying to give some input into what seemed to be a problem that was troubling you, nothing I said was meant to be bossy or to imply you didn't know what you were doing.
So now I'll reply to your question: No, I didn't have to pick my dane bitch up to get her on the table, she had the scan standing up. However, had the vet insisted that I do get her on the table I would have told him where to shove it and walked away. Nothing would make me put my dog through something I wasn't 100% sure of or happy with.

If you wanted a yes / no answer then you should have stipulated that from the beginning then those of us that wanted to help further would have known to keep our gobs shut.
And incidentally if you've done your research, have experience of doing this before and have the backup of the breeder should'nt you have sorted out this little dilemma before you had the bitch mated? Then you wouldn't be having to post this kind of question on a forum when the bitch is already pregnant, which would have been especially helpful seeing as you can't accept a response to your question in the helpful manner in which I meant it.

As for the comment on vets not knowing much about mating, breeding etc. Paleeeease! Who does? It all comes with experience but until such a time as you have more knowledge and experience than a vet then I think that is a very ignorant, stupid and quite dangerous remark to make and live by.
It still never ceases to amaze me how breeders with supposedly their dogs best interests at heart can denounce the vets qualifications so easily.
Do you know what I think? Personally I've found that most of these breeders were happy for the vets wealth of knowledge at the start when they're all worried and concerned about the dogs welfare but as the breeding programme continues and they have to make decisions about culling litters etc etc, all of a sudden the vet knows nothing. Why? Because there are many breeders out there that would prefer to cull, abort, act as midwife etc etc without the expense that a vets intervention will cost, therefore they convince themselves and others around them that the vets know nothing or aren't very good.


Toys are firmly back in pram now. :p

p.s my dog was scanned from the side.

Kudos, Porsheipoo!:o)

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Originally Posted by crustyroll

Thanks all for your replies... my answers...



Not all vets are good with animals - I have experience of this and not all vets do what's best for your dog

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Vets are obliged to do what is best for your dog. They however do not have to do what is best for you, or what you concieve to be best. If you were not listened to then you should have put your foot down. If you did not listen to the vets reasoning then you have no reason to complain.

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Originally Posted by crustyroll

As to picking up anything abnormal - Sometimes you can't let nature take its course, pups do die in the uterine horns and can lead to pyometra if they are not resorbed. A mummified pup will not necessarily induce labour in a dog and by the time you have realised she has this condition it can already be well advanced. Generally animals do know what they are doing but you also need to know the score and what is going on with your dog.

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You said it: you know the score with your dog! You know when she mated ( I suppose), you know the gestation period ( I suppose) . You do your math and make sure she is not having the pregnancy of an elephant. There are offcourse other symptoms indicative of piometra that can be observed.

But then I wouldn't want to argue with your elucidate opinion of vets. OMG why would they bother with all that uni rubbish when some research and one is all set to scan, read and interpret said scan. As someone earlier said, try ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BK-B-K-B-K-BRU...QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck to you in your diagnosis of piometras...take the dog to the toilet before though, or you might see a piometra where there is a full bladder or a tumor where there is a full colon.