Ultrasound-guided blood sampling of rabbit fetuses.

A rabbit animal model for hemolytic disease of the newborn has been previously described. However, evaluating the effects of this disease was limited to histologic and hematologic examinations of liveborn kitlings. To assess the feasibility of in utero blood sampling, we performed ultrasound-guided cardiac sampling of 50 fetuses in 16 New Zealand White does on days 26 and 27 of gestation.