Seattle Woodland Park Zoo gorilla Olympia gives birth via rare C-section with help from OB-GYN team

A dramatic emergency delivery at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo ended with a healthy baby gorilla and an unexpected helping hand from another new mother.

Olympia, a pregnant western lowland gorilla, gave birth to a baby boy via an “extremely rare” caesarean section after complications during birth left vets fearing she would not be able to give birth naturally.

The surgery, performed May 24 by veterinarians and a volunteer medical team that normally delivers human babies, was the first gorilla C-section in the zoo’s 126-year history.

The newborn, Olympia’s second son, weighed 5lb 4oz and is recovering.

“Thanks to the teamwork of doctors, veterinarians and the gorilla care team, Olympia and her baby are healthy and well,” said Martin Ramirez, Woodland Park Zoo’s curator of mammalogy.

“We remain optimistic, given the positive indicators so far, but we are also cautious because the situation is very fluid and fragile.”

People He reported that the emergency procedure was triggered after an ultrasound showed that amniotic fluid was low and Olympia’s labor was not progressing.

“We therefore made the critical decision to anesthetize Olympia and call in a team of medical consultants to assess the fetus and determine the best intervention,” veterinarian Dr Tim Storms said.

Scans confirmed that Olympia would not be able to give birth without intervention.

“This meant Olympia would not be able to deliver her baby without our help, so we made the critical decision to deliver the baby by caesarean section,” Dr Storms said.

“We had a highly skilled and compassionate volunteer obstetric team who joined our veterinary team to perform the surgery and deliver a healthy baby boy.”

But the story took another remarkable turn after birth.

While Olympia was recovering from surgery, her gorilla friend Jamani, who had given birth to her own son a few days earlier, stepped in to care for the newborn.

The two gorillas have a history.

They gave birth to their sons within weeks of each other in 2012 and raised them together while living at the North Carolina Zoo.

“Keeping the baby close to Olympia allowed her to see, hear and smell her baby at all times,” Mr. Ramirez said.

“Since Olympia had just undergone major surgery, we wanted to let her rest for the first night without needing to care for her baby.”

The next day, Jamani began carrying and breastfeeding both babies while Olympia remained nearby.

“We were not surprised and knew there was a possibility Jamani could take Olympia’s baby,” said animal care manager Arden Robert.

“Last night Jamani breastfed Olympia’s baby several times.”

Zoo staff said the first 72 hours are critical for newborn gorillas, but both babies are in good condition so far.

“As Olympia recovers from her cesarean section, our plan is to allow Jamani to continue to care for Olympia’s son and also care for her own son as long as both babies remain healthy, which is our top priority,” Mr. Ramirez said.

“Once Olympia shows signs that she is ready for her baby, we will continue with our plans to reunite them.”