AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by AABP President-Elect Dr. Mark Hilton. Hilton provides some guidance on making obstetrics easier, especially for recently graduated veterinarians. The technique is called the Utrecht technique. This technique and being successful at dystocia calls is not dependent on the veterinarian’s size and with practice, Hilton says that all veterinarians can become successful obstetricians with practice and proper technique.

Hilton informs his clients that a cow in labor should make progress every hour, and if not making progress in that time frame, they should call the veterinarian for assistance. The key points for the Utrecht technique include:

1.      Be sure that calf is in a normal presentation. Correct if needed while the cow is standing. If you need to manipulate, use an epidural and administer 10 cc of epinephrine IM to relax the uterus. 

2.      Manually dilate the birth canal. Put both gloved and lubed arms in the vagina, clasp your hands and push your arms laterally to dilate the vagina. You can also ask the producer or caregiver to help you dilate the cow to allow you to rest. 

3.      Put chains on the legs and apply traction. If you can get the carpi past the vulva, or you can feel room around the calf, Hilton says he makes the decision to pull vaginally versus a C-section.

4.      Cast the cow and lay her in lateral recumbency.

5.      Use a calf puller with traction, but only apply traction when the cow pushes and rest when the calf’s shoulders are through the pelvis. The cow will rotate the calf while you are resting, or if not, you can rotate the calf so the pelvis of the calf is turned to go through the largest part of the dam’s pelvis. If the calf is being delivered in posterior presentation, Hilton continues to use traction to quickly deliver the calf after the pelvis is through to prevent the calf from suffocating during delivery. 

For more information:

Midwest Beef Cattle Consultants, LLC. https://www.mwbeefcattle.com/educational-material 

An easier way to deliver calves, Mark Hilton, AABP Annual Conference Proceedings, 2020.

https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20208085