Maternity Management Practices in Dairy Farms: Assisting Dystocia Births

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- [Adrian] Welcome to the Assisting Dystocic Births Learn Now Video.

This video shows proper techniques and skills needed for effectively managing difficult calvings in dairy farms.

The basic equipment needed to properly assist a difficult calving includes, personal protective equipment consisting of goggles, an apron, long obstetrical sleeves, and examination gloves, a bucket with warm water mixed with a disinfectant solution, and a brush to clean the vulva and the area around the vulva, lubricant solution, and obstetric chains or ropes.

Another tool that can be used when assisting difficult calvings is a calf jack.

The calf jack allows the personnel to apply significant strength while assisting difficult calvings.

Therefore along the lubrication of the birth canal, pulling when the cow pushes, and allowing the cow to rest when needed are all necessary to prevent injuries to the birth canal and the calf.

The first step in assisting a difficult calving is to restrain the cow to protect the animal and the personnel.

Next, tie the tail of the cow to keep it out side of the work area.

In this video I am showing a common method for tying the tail in the field.

Take a piece of string and loop it around the end of the tail, tying the other end to the cows halter.

Next wash the perineum.

The perineum is the area marked by the red lines in the picture on the right.

It goes from the base of the tail to the hip and from the hip to the base of the udder.

In this video I am showing how to properly wash perineum of the cow.

First wipe the area.

Apply abundant disinfectant solution and brush thoroughly.

Then rinse and repeat the procedure if necessary.

Suit up with your personal protective equipment.

In this video Dr. Springer is showing how to properly dress to assist a cow.

First put the apron followed by the goggles.

Make sure that the apron is not too loose or too tight.

Then put on the sleeves and examination gloves.

A good tip for holding your sleeves in the proper position is to cut off the thicker part of the edge of the examination gloves and use a band to maintain your sleeves in the right position as Dr. Springer demonstrates in this video.

The second step in assisting a difficult calving is to assess the birth canal dilation and the position of the calf.

First apply lubricant solution inside the birth canal.

Then place your hands between the calf and the birth canal to assess dilation.

If the cervix is dilated your arm will fit comfortably.

Then assess the position of the calf by palpating it's body and extremities.

The next step is to correct the calf's position if needed.

First push the calf back inside the uterus to gain space if necessary and place obstetric chains to secure the extremities that are in the correct position.

Now manipulate the calf to correct any abnormally positioned extremities.

Always protect the birth canal by placing your hand between the sharp parts of the calf such as the hooves and the birth canal soft tissue.

Finally place obstetric chains on the extremities that you corrected.

In this slide we are showing some examples of properly correcting abnormally calf positions.

The first example is a calf with a deviated head.

In this video you can see how one of our students introduces her arm inside the birth canal and confirms that the hooves observed outside the vulva are indeed the front legs and that the head is deviated to the left.

Once she identities the head by touching the ear, the eye, and the mouth, she grabs the head from the corner of the mouth and brings it towards the entrance of the birth canal.

Then she grabs the head by the nose to have a better grip and places the head in the correct position by moving it diagonally and inward keeping the noise pointing down.

Once the head is in the correct position, she places a head snare under the ears and inside the mouth to prevent the head from deviating again.

The second example is a calf with it's front leg deviated.

In this video one of our students begins by securing the correctly positioned leg and head with obstetric chains.

This step is crucial from preventing the extremity from deviating while the calf is being manipulated.

Next she moves the secured head and leg further inside the uterus to gain space.

She then introduces her arm inside the birth canal and assess the position of the deviated leg.

Once she reached the leg, she grabs it and pulls it towards the birth canal until she can reach the hoof.

She then grabs the hoof, placing her hand between it and the birth canal.

Next she moves the deviated leg towards the middle, using and upward and back pulling motion to place it in the correct position.

Last she places and obstetric chain on the corrected leg to begin the pulling process.

The last example is a calf with a backward presentation and deviated rear legs.

This is one of the most challenging cases of dystocia in farm operations.

In this case one of our students places his arm inside the birth canal and assess the position of the rear leg.

Once he reaches the tibia, he grabs it and pulls it to bring it farther through the birth canal.

Then he grabs a hoof and moves it towards the middle, using and upward and back pulling motion while at the same time pushing the hock inside.

Once the leg is in the correct position, he secures it with an obstetric chain.

The same procedure must be implemented to correct the other rear leg.

To properly place obstetric chains, make a loop above the fetlock joint, and a half-hitch below the fetlock joint directly under the dewclaws.

Once the calf's extremities are corrected, begin the pulling process.

The personnel must pull straight back one leg at a time until the shoulders appear through the vulva.

Then they must pull both legs at a 45 degree angle at the same time.

If the calf's is in a backward presentation, cross the legs when pulling to rotate the calf's hips and to avoid hip lock between the calf's and cow's hips.

The personnel must always pull at the same time as the cow is pushing and allow her to rest when needed to avoid damaging of the birth canal and suffering of the cow.

If there is no progress after 15 to 20 minutes of having started assistance, re-assess the technique being used.

Evaluate that the calf is still alive by softly pinching between the hooves or eyes.

The calf should move if it is still alive.

If there is no progress after 30 to 40 minutes of assistance, call your veterinarian.

This is an example of the decision making protocol for assisting difficult calvings.

If a dystocia is identified, first determine the calf's position and apply the farm SOP's.

Correct the position and delivery of the calf is possible.

If an abnormal position can not be corrected or can be corrected but the calf can not be delivered, assess if the calf is still alive and call your veterinarian who may preform a C-section or Fetotomy based on calf viability.

As a complimentary component of this video our team offers a hands on training regarding calving management practices where the maternity personnel can apply and practice the knowledge and skills learned in this module.

If you are interested in learning more about this training, please contact us through the information provided in the last slide.

Thank you for watching and for more information on new born care practices watch the next module of the maternity management practices learn now video series.