Newborn gorilla, mother recover after rare C-section birth in British zoo

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Thursday, February 25, 2016
This undated image shows a newborn baby gorilla that is recovering after doctors performed a cesarean on its mother at a British Zoo.
This undated image shows a newborn baby gorilla that is recovering after doctors performed a cesarean on its mother at a British Zoo.
KGO-TV

A newborn gorilla is doing well at a British zoo after a very rare delivery by emergency cesarean surgery by an OB/GYN, not a veterinarian.

Zoo officials called in the OB/GYN when the baby's mother showed signs of a potentially life-threatening illness. It was the doctor's first C-section on a gorilla, and he admits it was kind of scary.

"Should she wake up during the operation, I would be first in line for what she would see when she woke up, which wasn't a very nice place to be. But it went very well and she kept asleep very well during the whole thing and it was all very smooth," said gynecologist David Cahill.

The baby gorilla needed some help breathing at first, but she's now doing well and being treated around-the-clock.

The doctor says performing a C-section on a gorilla is similar to performing one on a human, with the size of the animal being the main difference.

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