Baby gorilla delivered via rare C-section at Seattle zoo

[hlthe2b]

2. Nice to have the OB staff participating, but veterinary surgeons--particularly those boarded in

exotic medicine and surgery as well, should certainly have been able to perform this procedure and have had primate experience on other abdominal surgeries. Veterinarians, (not merely boarded surgeons) after all do c-sections on many species of animals frequently. Still, I'm glad they had the accompanying help of the obstetric surgical nurses and staff as well and I'm sure all involved were thrilled to participate. Hopefully the infant gorilla will thrive sans an around-the-clock neonatal intensive care intervention. In that event, having some help from the human medical side would certainly be welcomed.

As to the rarity, I'm sure more MIGHT be done and are certainly considered when labor is not progressing except for the fear that the mother might not accept and care for the infant gorilla afterward. It will be interesting to see what happens here.