The mother should chew the membranes from around the newborn puppy and free it from the sac. She should then bite the umbilical cord in half and lick the puppy dry. This will stimulate the puppy to breathe and cry. She may then eat the membranous sac. These membranes will not harm her, but don't allow her to eat more than one or two of the placenta since they may cause some indigestion.
Some mothers fail to break the sac and free the puppy.
If so, you should help her to break the sac and free the puppy and encourage her to lick the puppy. If she fails to lick the newborn pup, you should gently but vigorously rub the puppy with a rough towel until it starts breathing and crying. You should tie clean thread around the end of the cut cord to prevent bleeding. The cord will shrink up as it dries and will fall off in a few days. Keep a bottle of alcohol handy for rinsing the scissors before use.