Large Litter

Question
So my guinea pig just had babies at 4:30 AM. My husband comes home from work late (graveyard) so he saw it starting to happen and he woke me up. I rushed there and found one dead still in its amniotic sac. I took it off over the nose and tried to rub it and breathe air into it but it was already dead. 3 more came and they all lived and are very healthy and the last one was dead (partially developed). It didn't have eyes and it was 1/3 the size. I'm very upset and I feel like I could have prevented this somehow. Do you know how common it is for these kinds of deaths? I guess I want to know if I should be blaming myself or if this is fairly common.

Sincerely,
Feeling guilty

Answer
Hi Vanessa,

    It is unnecessary to feel at all guilty for the stillborn, because it sounds to me like it was undeveloped in the womb and was born dead.  The mother most likely was aware of the situation and did not feel the need to tear off the amniotic sac and tend to it at all.  This is fairly common among guinea pigs, but feel lucky that the stillbirth was because of underdevelopment, and not because the mother did not have time to tend to it and you were not there to assist.  This happens in many cases and is tragic.

    Thank you for your question, I hope I was of some help to you.  If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.  Good luck with your guinea pigs (and congratulations on your litter ! (=

                                            - Nicole