The Art of Birth

She was delighted with both of her students and smiled at Ollie as he looked lost.
"Well done you two! Yes, though if a litter comes late it's more often the case of not knowing the conception date, or the mother is too stressed to labor safely. If the mother is too fatigued it's not always an immediate cause for concern, healthy births have come in stages. It can be just fine if a mother takes a break from laboring after delivering a partial litter. She can get up, get food and drink, relieve herself if need be and her body will continue her labor up to 3 hours later. If she's an attentive mother and doesn't seem too alarmed that's a good sign things are progressing fine even up to 6 hours. If she does start to seem alarmed or stressed during delivery after a few hours that is a sign to intervene."

She swished her tail as she adjusted her pose, "I won't go over them today, but there are herbs to support the production of breast milk like fenugreek, blessed thistle, milk thistle, fennel, and goats rue. Some herbs can ease the birthing process like a pup stuck in the canal, or passing a pup that's larger than normal. Those herbs are wild yam, passion flower, yarrow, raspberry leaf, and..." She thought for a moment, her purple irises glancing at the cavern ceiling and her paw coming under her chin, She was sure she was missing one or two in there... "Perhaps valerian? No Valerian would sap most of her pushing power and have her muscles relax too much." She nodded as she mused aloud to her students. She brought her attention back to the class with a woosh of her tail to the other hip.

"What are the signs a mother is in distress?" She asked.