Krishnaswamy, A.Reddy, K.C.S.Honnappa, T.G.Sudha, G.Narayan Swamy, M.Sridhar, N.B.Jayakumar, C.2016-07-182016-07-182015-05-15http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/68867Ph.D. ThesisEarly recognition of dystocia and fetal distress are crucial to successful management of labor and the optimal neonatal health. This envisages both maternal monitoring and assessment of the newborn for its viability status. The present study established that hypoglycaemia and hypocalcaemia is an infrequent cause of maternal dystocia and that the neonatal viability is maximum when an elective cesarean section is carried out when the serum progesterone concentrations are very close to basal levels. Further, tocodynamomeric studies were found to be extremely useful in maternal monitoring, identifying normal and abnormal patterns of uterine contractions and planning the future course of action. The incidence of stillbirths and neonatal mortality in canines was found to be fairly high and even higher following difficult births. The first 24 h after birth was found to be the most critical period for the neonatal mortality and was closely related to the duration of labor and the type of obstetrical intervention employed to relieve dystocia. Assessment of neonatal viability status by Apgar scoring and neonatal distress by determination of umbilical vein lactate (UL) concentration was found to be extremely reliable in identifying puppies at risk for mortality and these two parameters were inversely related. The study determined that puppies with an Apgar score of 8 and umbilical vein lactate concentration of less than 8 mmol/L were at low risk for neonatal mortality. Although a good Apgar score did not guarantee newborn survival per se, pups with high scores had a survival advantage over those with lower scores. The study also signified the prognostic importance of UL at birth in predicting neonatal outcome at 24 h after birth. The importance of resuscitation procedures in revival of puppies with high UL concentration or low Apgar score at birth was signified by a reduced incidence of neonatal mortality.enApgar, Tocodynamometry, Neonatal viability, dystociaThesis