Elephants also have a doula with them during birth. A smart zookeeper knows this. A breech baby elephant was born with the help of doula-elephant Num-Oi in the Melbourne, AUS zoo.
I remember hearing about and watching Raja’s birth in the St. Louis zoo some years ago. His mother was in a long labor until the zoo keepers got the idea to bring in a female companion who had given birth her elephant self.
For people, I still recommend also having a person quite experienced in physiological breech birth.
Come visit the blog. Spinning Babies Blog. www.spbmembership.wpengine.com
At a home birth conference in Oxford, UK, one of the speakers, Mavis Kirkham, midwifery lecturer, spoke of her experience as a child on a cattle farm. She said that when a cow went into labour it would 'choose' another cow who would follow it into the stall for the birth.
When Marshall Klaus, wonderful Pediatrician and doula advocate, went lecturing in South America, he stayed with hosts at a large cattle ranch. The rancher mentioned since he installed the hygienic, isolated birthing barn the rate of stillborn calves increased.
Marshall's wife, Phyllis, suggested that he arrange a cow-doula for the birthing cows. He did and his rate of stillborn cows dropped again.