Pregnant Mouse Will Appreciate a Helper

Question
Hello again,
I've got two mice, who are sisters. (Moose and Freya) I've been planning to breed one of them for some time now, and I've already found the potential daddy (his name is Marley) and whatnot, but I still have some concerns. I'm going to attempt to have the breeding take place between Marley and Freya. Freya seems to be the more dominant of the two, since I always see her cleaning Moose (as opposed to the other way around) and just in other ways acts as though she has more authority. But what I'm worried about is whether the two of them can stay together during the pregnancy(Moose and Freya, I mean). I'm not sure if I should remove Freya to her own cage so as not to be bothered, or if I should leave her and Moose together for companionship. Also, neither of them have ever mated or had babies before. So, if I could keep them together through this whole process then that'd be wonderful, but if I do have to remove Freya then I am wondering when I should do so, and also when I can reintroduce them all (Freya, Moose, AND the babies). I only wonder this because I've read first time moms are often nervous, and sometimes other cagemates have problems with the babies etc. So, I just want to avoid as much conflict as is possible.

Thanks for your input :D

Answer
Dear Korinne,

The only time you have to separate your girls is when the couple mates, so Moose doesn't get pregnant too.

It's nice for a mom mouse to have a girlfriend because then she can get out of the nest more often.  Moose will help Freya to take care of the babies. Sometimes the girlfriend mouse can even nurse the babies herself.  In one case I know, the mom mouse died but the virgin girlfriend mouse raised the babies herself!

Best of luck to the new mom!

squeaks n giggles,

Natasha

PS there are a number of posts about pregnancy and raising babies in my archives; also don't hesitate to send more questions.