OBGYN delivers four puppies during coronavirus pandemic

DETROIT. - “I never thought that my doctor who helped deliver my children, would be helping to deliver my puppies,” said Detroit Dog Rescue Executive Director, Kristina Rinaldi. 

Kristina called on the doctor she trusted who delivered or kids, to deliver her puppies. 

“I always said if you ever have a dog in labor that needs help, I’d love to come and help you,”’ said Dr. Deborah Charfoos with Michigan’s Women’s Health. 

Dr. Charfoos was all ready to step into a different kind of delivery room. 

“She actually was at the vet hospital before I was, so her on call time is good,” Kristina said. 

The very pregnant, S’mores was rescued roaming the streets of Detroit for 24-hours before going into labor, and this was at high risk. 

Right now, social distancing volunteers at DDR are down, and vets are not as accessible. 

“They’re very short here at the vet with the amount of veterinarians that are working, so I came in to help in case there was a problem,” Dr. Charfoos. 

It was a first time puppy delivery for Dr. Charfood. She spent her whole day and most of the night at Union Lake Veterinary, waiting. 

“It’s like one puppy giving birth takes an hour,” she said. “When a human has twins the longest time between is like 15 minutes, so it was a long time.”

S’mores lost four puppies early in the pregnancy, which made the process even longer. But then, at one an hour, they came. 

“We’re hanging out with her,” said Kristina. “Playing some light music. She’s has some steak. I think she’s loving the VIP treatment. I think she likes Dr. Charfoos and she’s going to stretch this out.”

In this strange time we’re in right now, the faces of four healthy puppies delivered some much needed smiles. 

“Oh this is great, this is great,” Dr. Charfoos said. “It was a great feeling. I love animals!”

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