The Ladies Book of Useful Information Part 16

and however complicated and painful habits or disease have made it, yet the work must be left to nature. Any efforts to a.s.sist or hurry matters will only end in harm. The only cases where interference is justifiable is where her powers are exhausted or some malformation exists or malpresentation occurs. When labor is about to commence, the womb descends into the bottom of the belly and the motions and weight of the child will be felt much lower down than usual. If in a natural position the head will fall to the mouth of the womb and press upon it. This drives forward the membranes which retain the water at the orifice, and at the proper moment they break and labor then commences.

Labor is caused by involuntary contractions of the uterus and abdominal muscles. By their force the liquor amnii flows out, the head of the ftus is engaged in the pelvis, it goes through it, and soon pa.s.ses out by the valve, the folds of which disappear. These different phenomena take place in succession and continue a certain time. They are accompanied with pains more or less severe, with swelling and softening of the soft parts of the pelvis and external genital parts, and with an abundant mucous secretion in the cavity of the v.a.g.i.n.a. All these circ.u.mstances, each in its own way, favor the pa.s.sage of the ftus.

It is proper here to remark that parturition is not necessarily either painful or dangerous. It is well known that women in an uncivilized state suffer very little pain or disablement in bringing forth children. Generally neither pregnancy nor labor interrupt the ordinary avocation of the mother, except for an hour or two at the birth itself. The suffering and debilitating influences that often attend childbirth now are caused by our unnatural modes of living and nonattention to the laws of health. Numerous well-authenticated instances are known where women who had previously suffered with severe labor in childbirth have, by attention to health and diet as here shown, been delivered of fine healthy children with comparative ease.

From the

BEGINNING OF PREGNANCY

more than ordinary care should be used in taking regular exercise in the open air, being careful to avoid fatigue and overexertion. During the whole period of pregnancy every kind of agitating exercise, such as running, jumping, jolting in a carriage, and plunging in cold water, should be carefully avoided, as well as the pa.s.sions being kept under perfect control.

THE DIET

must chiefly consist of fruits and farinaceous food, as sago, tapioca, rice, etc. In proportion as a woman subsists upon aliment which is free from earthy and bony matter will she avoid pain and danger in delivery; hence, the more ripe fruit, acid fruit in particular, and the less of other kinds of food, but particularly of bread or pastry of any kind, is consumed, the less will be the danger and sufferings of childbirth. Nearly all kinds of fruit possess two hundred times less ossifying principle than bread or anything else made of wheaten flour.

Honey, mola.s.ses, sugar, b.u.t.ter, oil, vinegar, etc., when unadulterated, are entirely free from earthy matter. Common salt, pepper, coffee, cocoa, spices, and many drugs are much worse than wheaten flour in their hardening and bone-forming tendency, and should therefore be avoided. The drink should be tea or lemonade made with water, soft and clear, and, when practicable, distilled.

No mother who has adopted this mode of living but has blessed the knowledge of it, and it has saved many a young mother from needless terror.

In the third month of pregnancy, but not before, the belly begins to enlarge or swell, and gradually increases in size till the full term of pregnancy is completed. Between the sixteenth and twentieth week the womb rises up into the belly, and the motion of the child is felt, which is called

QUICKENING.

The first time a woman is with child this sensation of quickening is like that of a bird fluttering within her; at other times she feels a tickling or pushing sensation, or the child gives a kick or a jump, and this, too, with so much energy as to move the petticoats, a book, or any light article she may have in her lap.

It is important to remember these symptoms, and the order in which they occur: first, cessation of the menses; second, morning sickness; third, swelling and darting pains in the breast, and dark color around the nipples; fourth, gradual enlargement of the abdomen or belly; fifth, the movement of the child.

In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, if these symptoms are present the woman is pregnant. Pregnant women are generally affected with heartburn, sickness of a morning, headache, and that troublesome disease, toothache, which accompanies pregnancy; all of which may usually be avoided by keeping the bowels gently open with seidlitz powders, caster oil, or pills of rhubarb, which should be taken occasionally, either alone or in combination with colocynth and soap.

A clyster made of warm soapsuds will often be sufficient if repeated every few days; or senna and manna; and if there is any aversion to taking medicine, give some simple articles, such as roasted apples, figs, prunes, or anything that will quiet the stomach and prevent costiveness of the bowels.

THE TOOTHACHE

often complained of by pregnant women, and which may occur at any period, is seldom relieved by extraction, having its seat in the adjacent nerves of the face or jaws, and is neuralgic. The teeth ought not to be drawn during pregnancy, unless urgently required, but should be relieved by applying hot fomentations to the face, as a camomile poultice. Rubbing the jaw externally with spirits of camphor or laudanum, or applying mustard plasters or blisters behind the ears, will afford relief.

THE CRAMPS OF THE LEGS. ETC.,

in pregnancy, caused by the pressure of the enlarged womb on the nerves, are often troublesome, but not attended with any danger, and may be speedily relieved by a change of posture, and friction, or rubbing with opodeldoc, spirits of camphor, or hot whisky and salt.

Palpitation of the heart occurs frequently, and usually about the period of quickening. In general, it is the result of a disordered stomach and may be relieved by attention to diet and moderate doses of magnesia and Epsom salts, of equal quant.i.ties.

THE PALPITATION OF THE HEART

may be produced by a morbid state of the nerves, and is then termed hysterical. Attention in all such cases should be paid to the diet, air, exercise, etc., with the view of improving the strength, the bowels being kept open by mild means. All exciting or agitating subjects should be carefully avoided, and the mind of the pregnant woman kept calm and tranquil; for the mind, in the early stages of pregnancy, exercises the most powerful influence over the child through life; and how many peculiar traits of character have been indelibly fixed upon their offspring from these exciting causes is evident in many families.

When the palpitation occurs from the state of the nerves, as before described, producing uncomfortable feelings, a teaspoonful of the tincture of castor or asaftida, with an equal quant.i.ty of compound spirits of lavender, mixed in a little water, will seldom fail to afford relief, which may, if necessary, be repeated on its recurrence.

MORNING SICKNESS

is one of the most painful feelings attendant on the pregnant state, and it is one of those which medicine commonly fails to relieve. A cup of camomile or peppermint tea, taken when first awaking, and suffering the patient to be still for an hour, will frequently alleviate the distressing sickness; but should it recur during the day, and if these means fail, two or three teaspoonfuls of the following mixture should then be taken either occasionally or, when the vomiting and heartburn are more continual, immediately after each meal:

Take of- Calcined magnesia, One dram; Distilled water, Six ounces; Aromatic tincture of rhatany, Six drams; Water of pure ammonia, One dram.

Mix. The anxiety and sometimes despondency of mind-in other words, lowness of spirits-to which pregnant women are more or less liable greatly depends on the state of their general health and the natural temper and character of the individual; but it can be greatly aggravated, and may often be excited by circ.u.mstances or officious persons. Let me, then, urge upon you the _important necessity_ of keeping the mind as tranquil and cheerful as possible, particularly during the first four months of pregnancy. A judicious course of this kind will produce the most beneficial and well-balanced mind in the child; while, if the contrary, a desponding and nervous temperament, with many other peculiarities, will be the consequence.

SURE TEST FOR THE DETECTION OF PREGNANCY.

M. Nauche has found that the urine of pregnant women contains a particular substance, which, when the urine is allowed to stand separates and forms a pellicle on the surface. M. Enguiser, from an extensive series of observations, has confirmed the fact, and ascertained that kisteine, as this particular substance has been called, is constantly formed on the surface of the urine of women in a state of pregnancy. The urine must be allowed to stand for from two to six days, when minute opaque bodies are observed to rise from the bottom to the surface of the fluid, where they gradually unite and form a continuous layer over the surface. This layer is so consistent that it may be almost lifted off by raising it by one of its edges.

This is the kisteine. It is whitish, opalescent, slightly granular, and can be compared to nothing better than the fatty substance which floats on the surface of soups after they have been allowed to cool.

When examined by the microscope, it has the aspect of a gelatinous ma.s.s without determinate form; sometimes cubical shaped crystals are discovered on it, but this appearance is only observed when it has stood a long time, and is to be regarded as foreign to it. The kisteine remains on the surface for several days; the urine then becomes turbid, and small opaque ma.s.ses become detached from the kisteine and fall to the bottom of the fluid and the pellicle soon becomes destroyed.

The essential character of the urine of pregnancy, then, is the presence of the kisteine; and the characters of the pellicle are so peculiar that it is impossible to mistake it for anything else. A pellicle sometimes forms on the surface of the urine of patients laboring under phthisis, abscess, or disease of the bladder, but may be easily distinguished by this circ.u.mstance, that it does not form in such a short time as the kisteine, and that in place of disappearing, as this last, in a few days, it increases in thickness and at last is converted into a ma.s.s of moldiness. There exists, likewise, a very marked difference between its mucous aspect and that of kisteine; a difference which is difficult to describe, but which is easily recognized.

Kisteine appears to exist in the urine from the first month of pregnancy till delivery. It has even been recognized in the urine of a few gravid animals.

"PARTURIENT BALM,"

_For Rendering Childbirth Easy and Less Dangerous-A very Important Medicine._

Take blue cohosh root, four ounces; lady's-slipper root and spikenard root, of each one ounce; sa.s.safras bark (of root) and clover, of each half an ounce. Bruise all, and simmer slowly for two hours in two quarts of boiling water. Strain, and add one pound of white sugar.

Dose: A winegla.s.sful twice a day for two weeks or a month previous to expected confinement, for the purpose of rendering parturition, or childbirth, more easy.

Should be taken by every pregnant woman.

ABORTION.

Abortion, or miscarriage, means, in plain language, a woman losing her child previous to the seventh month of her pregnancy; that is, before its due time. When this occurs after that period it is called

PREMATURE LABOR.

Miscarriage involves pain and weakness in addition to the loss of offspring, and is often a severe trial to the maternal const.i.tution.

It may occur at any period of pregnancy, but particular stages are more liable to the accident than others. These are generally considered to be about the time of the first menstruation after conception; again at the twelfth week, and toward the seventh month; and the liability is increased at those times which correspond to the menstrual period. When abortion has once taken place it is more likely to occur again, and some have so strong a tendency to it that they never go beyond a certain stage, but then invariably miscarry.

THE CAUSE OF ABORTION

may exist in the const.i.tution of the female herself, being the result of weakness and irritability, or of an overfull habit or a diseased condition of the womb; or the ftus, or child, may die or be deficient in development, when it is cast off like a blighted fruit.

Suckling after conception has taken place is not infrequently a cause of miscarriage. Active diseases occurring during pregnancy, such as fevers, severe inflammation, eruptive fevers, etc., are almost certain to occasion the expulsion of the uterine contents. Continued diarrha and the action of strong purgative medicines, particularly the aloetic, are dangerous. This is a very good reason for those who are pregnant avoiding all quack aperient medicines; they almost all contain aloes, and may be very injurious. All undue exertion or agitation of body or mind, sudden jerks or jumps, riding on horseback in the early stage, or in a shaking carriage in the latter stages of pregnancy, may any of them bring on miscarriage. To these may be added: exertion of the arms in doing anything on a level above the head; costive bowels and straining consequent therein; s.e.xual indulgence, or, in plain language, too much connection with your husband; and luxurious habits. Those who have once suffered from abortion ought to be extremely careful during succeeding pregnancies, and all ought to bear in mind the possibility of the occurrence.