F E AT U R E
Red bag foaling Thankfully it’s rare, but when it occurs your eagerly anticipated foal is in serious trouble. HEATHER IP recently went through this experience with a particularly precious baby.
A
‘red bag’ foaling – it’s something you don’t see often, but when you do it’s a serious emergency.
In an equine pregnancy, the foal is encased within two layers of sacs (see
Within the allantochorionic sac is allantoic fluid, and within that fluid is another fluid-filled sac, the amnion. The amnion is a translucent whitish membrane containing amnionic fluid and the foal itself. The umbilical cord passes
diagram below). The outer sac is called
from the foal, through the amnion to the
the allantochorion, and the chorionic
allantochorion, allowing nutrient and
(outer) side of this sac attaches to the
waste transfer between the mare and
lining of the mare’s entire uterus. It is a
the foal.
deep red colour and has a texture like
In a normal foaling, the waters break
velvet, where millions of tiny velcro-like
at the commencement of second
‘fingers’ attach to the endometrium throughout the whole uterus, providing the foal with all the nutrients, oxygen
stage labour, which means that the allantochorion ruptures at the level of the mare’s cervix, releasing the allantoic fluid (the ‘waters’) and allowing the foal
and waste removal required throughout
to pass through the cervix encased in the
the pregnancy and birth.
inner membrane, the amnion. The first thing that is usually seen emerging from the mare’s vulva in a normal foaling is a whitish bubble containing amnionic fluid and the foal’s two front feet and nose. If the appearance of the sac is more red than white, this is the chorionic side of the outer sac, indicating that the allantochorion hasn’t ruptured at the cervix and the placenta has separated from the endometrium too early. When this occurs, the foal no longer has an oxygen supply and every second counts. The foal needs to be delivered immediately to prevent it from being starved of oxygen, with likely fatal consequences. Early one morning in September, my five year old Warmblood mare, Dreamy,
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