birth/delivery-stillborns?

Question
Our guinea pig just gave birth to a litter of 5 (her third litter) and three appeared to be still born. (Sow is 1 1/2 years old.) Also, one of our daughter guinea pigs just gave birth to her first litter of 3 and all were "stillborn".  These pigs both did have their first litter in the proper time frame of 5-9 months.  What is the cause for this high incidence of dead babies?  Is there anything that we could have done to prevent this?  Anything to be aware of before trying again besides waiting at least 2 months?  We have a number of wonderful families waiting for our babies, and we have hardly any to give!  Also, is there an age at which sows shouldn't be allowed to breed?  Thanks so much.  I did check your other past questions/answers and didn't see any answer to this.

Answer
Hello, i am sorry about the still born pups, but it is something that happens with guinea pigs especially since cavies are ready to run and play and eyes wide open after birth, complications are to be expected more frequently with guinea pigs. Guinea Pigs should only be bred 1 or two times in their lifetime. Any births after that causes a lot of stress on guinea pigs and with each birthing there is a greater chance that the sow and babies could die due to complications. Before breeding your guinea's do you take them to the vet for wellness exams to make sure they are completely healthy. Your sow should retire from breeding and I would take in your daughters guinea pig for a vet exam. Generally you wait about 5 months before trying again. Also did you get your guinea pigs from a reputable breeder or pet store? If you get your pups from a pet store it is hard to determine what the background of the guinea is and whether or not the guinea pig could pass on lethal conditions such as deformed teeth, internal problems and other problems as well.  Since I am not yet a guinea pig breeder myself and am still considering whether or not to breed guinea pigs when I have the time and money it is very hard to answer what exactly went wrong but I do know there is always a 20% chance the mother can die due to complications during surgery and there is also a chance that babies do become still born. It's something that is normal with breeding to lose pups and many breeders stop breeding after a while because they don't want to risk the lost of anymore sows or pups. I hope I have answered all your questions and again I am so sorry for your loss of your pups.