post birth bruising

Question
I have years of experience breeding guinea pigs and have a waiting list for baby piggy forever homes. So I'm surprised by the outcome of my most recent birth. The sow is about 6-7 months old (I bought her in february) and bred her right away. She labored fine and had 3 healthy pups. My concern is she has extensive bruising on her belly/vaginal area. I've given her warm baths in Epsom salt and extra vitamin c and she's healing well. Her pups are nursing and she's a great mom. What would cause this bruising? Should I avoid breeding her in the future? Thanks so much

Answer
The pressure of pushing the babies through the birth canal could have caused some bleeding under the skin, thus bruising. It sounds like she's just fine, I would do any soaks on her anymore. The cervix may not be completely closed and you don't want to risk infection by the Epsom salts.

There's no reason you should avoid breeding her again. She did fine and will in all probability do fine the next time too. She's a good mom and her instincts are coming through. I don't think there's anything you should worry about.