The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother Part 14

Instances of quadruplets are fewer than triplets. But four vigorous infants have been born at one birth.

FIVE AT A BIRTH.

The birth of _five_ living children at a time is very exceptional, and is usually fatal to the offspring. A remarkable case of this kind is reported in a late medical journal. A woman aged thirty, the wife of a laborer, and the mother of six children, was taken in labor about the seventh month of her pregnancy. Five children, and all alive, were given birth to,--three boys and two girls. Four of the children survived an hour, and died within a few moments of each other. The fifth, a female, and the last born, lived six hours, and was so vigorous that, notwithstanding its diminutive size, hopes were entertained of its surviving.

Another case is reported in a recent French medical journal. The woman was forty years old. She had had twins once, and single children five times. On her seventh pregnancy, when five months gone, she was as large as women usually are at the end of their full term. At the close of the month she was delivered of five children. They were all born alive, and lived from four to seven minutes. All five children were males, well built and as well developed as ftuses of five and one-half months usually are in a single birth. The woman made a good recovery. Other cases of five at a birth might be quoted. They are known to medical science as very singular and noteworthy occurrences.

INCREDIBLE NUMBERS.

Some books speak of seven, eight, nine, ten, and more, children at a birth. But these statements are so marvelous, so incredible, and unsupported by proper testimony, that they do not merit any degree of confidence. The climax of such extraordinary a.s.sertions is reached, and a good ill.u.s.tration of the credulity of the seventeenth century furnished, by a writer named Goftr. This traveller, in 1630, saw a tablet in a church at Leusdown (Lausdunum), about five miles from the Hague, with an inscription stating that a certain ill.u.s.trious countess, whose name and family he records, brought forth at one birth, in the fortieth year of her age, in the year 1276, 365 infants. They were all baptized by Guido, the Suffragan. The males were called John, and the females Elizabeth. They all, with their mother, died on the same day, and were buried in the above-mentioned church. This monstrous birth was said to have been caused by the sin of the countess in insulting a poor woman with twins in her arms, who prayed that her insulter might have at one birth the same number of children as there were days in the year. Of course, notwithstanding the story being attested by a tablet in a church, it must be placed among the many other instances of superst.i.tion afforded by an ignorant and credulous era.

We may remark, in closing this subject, that fewer plural births come to maturity than pregnancies with single children. Miscarriages are comparatively more frequent in such pregnancies than in ordinary ones.

PREGNANCY

_VENERATION FOR THE PREGNANT._

We have been considering woman hitherto as maiden and wife. She now approaches the sacred threshold of maternity. She is with child. In no period of her life is she the subject of an interest so profound and general. The young virgin and the new wife have pleased by their grace, spirit, and beauty. The pregnant wife is an object of active benevolence and religious respect. It is interesting to note how, at all times and in all countries, she has been treated with considerate kindness and great deference. She has been made the subject of public veneration, and sometimes even of religious worship. At Athens and at Carthage the murderer escaped from the sword of justice if he sought refuge in the house of a pregnant woman. The Jews allowed her to eat forbidden meats.

The laws of Moses p.r.o.nounced the penalty of death against all those who by bad treatment or any act of violence caused a woman to abort.

Lycurgus compared women who died in pregnancy to the brave dead on the field of honour, and accorded to them sepulchral inscriptions. In ancient Rome, where all citizens were obliged to rise and stand during the pa.s.sage of a magistrate, wives were excused from rendering this mark of respect, for the reason that the exertion and hurry of the movement might be injurious to them in the state in which they were supposed to be. In the kingdom of Pannonia all enceinte women were in such veneration, that a man meeting one on the road was obliged, under penalty of a fine, to turn back and accompany and protect her to her place of destination. The Catholic Church has in all times exempted pregnant wives from fasts. The Egyptians decreed, and in most Christian countries the law at the present time obtains, that if a woman shall be convicted of an offence the punishment of which is death, the sentence shall not be executed if it be proved that she is pregnant.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PREGNANCY.

1. The sign most commonly relied upon is the _cessation of the monthly sickness_. The wife who misses the expected return of her illness, is apt to conclude that conception has taken place. This sign is far from being an infallible one.

It should be borne in mind that young married women sometimes have a slight show for two or three periods after their first impregnation.

Ignorance of this fact has very frequently led to a miscalculation of the time of confinement. On the other hand, the menses will sometimes become arrested soon after marriage, and continue so for one or two months, without there existing any pregnancy. The temporary disappearance of the monthly sickness in such cases is due to the profound impression made upon the system by the new relations of the individual.

It not unfrequently happens that menstruation continues with regularity during the whole period of pregnancy. Exceptional cases are given by distinguished writers on midwifery, of women menstruating during their pregnancy, and at no other time.

As a general rule, when a healthy wife misses her monthly sickness, she is pregnant. But this symptom, though a strong one, must be supported by others before it can be regarded as establishing anything.

2. _Morning sickness_ is a very common, a very early, and, in the opinion of most mothers, a very conclusive symptom of pregnancy. We have already had occasion to remark that it sometimes makes its appearance almost simultaneously with conception. It usually comes on in the first few weeks, and continues until the third or fourth month or until quickening. This symptom is apt to be a troublesome one. Often the vomiting is slight, and immediately followed by relief. But it may produce violent and ineffectual straining for some time. It is, however, not to be called a disease: unless it proceeds to an exhausting degree, it must be looked upon as favorable and salutary. There is an old and true proverb, that 'a sick pregnancy is a safe one.' The absence of nausea and vomiting is a source of danger to the mother and child. Women who habitually fail to experience them, are exceedingly apt to miscarry.

In such cases medical skill should be invoked to bring about the return of these symptoms, of such importance to healthful pregnancy.

Morning sickness is therefore a very general, almost constant, accompaniment of the pregnant condition; and great dependence may be placed upon it as a sign.

3. _Changes in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s_ are valuable as symptoms. They become larger and firmer, and the seat of a p.r.i.c.king or stinging sensation. The nipples are swollen, prominent, and sometimes sore or painful. The veins beneath the skin appear more conspicuous, and of a deeper blue than ordinary. The peculiar circles of rose-coloured skin which surround the nipples increase in extent, change to a darker color, and become covered with a number of little elevations. Subsequently, numerous mottled patches, or round spots of a whitish hue, scatter themselves over the outer part of this circle.

The time at which these changes make their appearance is variable. They may begin to develope themselves in two or three weeks, oftener not until the second or third month, and in women of a delicate build, sometimes not until the latter end of pregnancy. Occasionally no alteration whatever occurs in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s until after confinement, in which cases the secretion of milk is delayed for several days after the birth of the child. In some rare instances the b.r.e.a.s.t.s never a.s.sume maternal proportions, and the mother is debarred from the pleasure and duty of nursing her own child.

4. _Quickening_ is the next symptom we will consider. By this term is meant the arrival of that time when the mother first becomes conscious by the movements of the child of its presence. The ancients thought that then life was imparted to the new being. Modern physiology emphatically condemns this absurdity. The embryo is as much alive in the very earliest moments of pregnancy as at any future stage of its existence.

Let every woman therefore remember that she who produces abortion is equally guilty in the eyes of science and of Heaven, whether the act be committed before or after the period of quickening.

How is quickening produced? Undoubtedly by the movements of the child.

So soon as its nervous and muscular systems become sufficiently developed to enable it to move its limbs, the mother, if the movements be sufficiently active, is rendered sensible of her situation. But the muscular contractions may not be strong enough to impart any sensation to the mother. In many cases in which they are too feeble to be noticed by herself, the skilled accoucheur is capable of recognizing them. And the movements of the ftus may be excited in various ways known to physicians.

_Time of quickening._--This symptom usually occurs about the middle of pregnancy, near the eighteenth week. Some women feel the movements of the ftus as early as the third month of pregnancy, others not till the sixth month. Cases occur in which no movement whatever is felt until the eighth or ninth month, or even not at all. It has been suggested that a ftus which does not indicate its presence in this way is a kind of 'Lazy Lawrence,' too indolent to move. Certainly, many of both s.e.xes exhibit after birth such indomitable love of repose, that it can readily be supposed they were equally pa.s.sive in ftal life.

The non-occurrence of this sign may, however, be due to the debility of the young child, or to a want of sensibility in the walls of the womb itself.

A woman may be deceived, and suppose she has quickened, when her sensations are to be traced to flatulence of the bowels, or perhaps a dropsical effusion. Many ludicrous instances of self-deception are on record. The historian Hume states that Queen Mary, in her extreme desire to have issue, so confidently a.s.serted that she felt the movements of the child, that public proclamation was made of the interesting event.

Despatches were sent to foreign courts; national rejoicings were had; the s.e.x of the child was settled, for everybody was certain it was going to be a male; and Bonner, Bishop of London, made public prayers, saying that Heaven would pledge to make him beautiful, vigorous, and witty. But all those high hopes and eager expectations were destined never to be realized. The future disclosed that the supposed quickening was merely a consequence of disordered health, and commencing dropsy.

Some women possess the power of imitating the movements of a ftus, by voluntary contraction of the abdominal muscles. A well-known colored woman of Charleston, 'Aunt Betty,' had a great reputation as having 'been pregnant for fifteen years.' She made a good deal of money, by exhibiting to physicians and medical students who were curious, the pretended movements of her unborn child. She was repeatedly presented to the medical cla.s.ses in the city. No pregnancy existed, as was revealed by a _post-mortem_ examination. She imposed upon the credulous by the habit she had acquired of jerking her muscles at pleasure, and thus closely simulating the movements of an embryo.

5. _Changes in the abdomen._--In the first two months of pregnancy the abdomen is _less_ prominent than usual: it recedes, and presents a flat appearance. The navel is also drawn in and depressed. About the third month a swelling frequently shows itself in the lower part of the abdomen, and then diminishes, thus leading the wife to suppose that she was mistaken in her condition, for she finds herself at the fourth month smaller than at the third. After this, however, there is a gradual increase in the size and hardness of the abdomen. What is of more value, is the peculiar form of the swelling. It is pear-shaped, and is thus distinguished from the swelling of dropsy and other affections. The navel begins to come forward, and finally protrudes. The pouting appearance it then presents is very characteristic.

In this connection it may be remarked that, towards the change of life, childless married women often think they perceive that 'hope deferred'

is about to be gratified. An enlargement of the abdomen takes place at this time, from a deposit of fatty matter. The nervous perturbations and the cessation of the menses, which are natural to this period, are looked upon as confirmations of the opinion that pregnancy exists. But the day of generation with them has pa.s.sed. These symptoms herald the approach of the winter of life, which brings with it death to the reproductive system.

6. _Changes in the skin._--The alterations occurring in the skin are worth observing. Those women who have a delicate complexion and are naturally pale take a high color, and vice versa. In some cases a considerable quant.i.ty of hair appears on those parts of the face occupied by the beard in men; it disappears after labor, and returns on every subsequent pregnancy. Oftentimes the skin becomes loose and wrinkled, giving a haggard, aged air to the face, and spoiling good looks. Women who ordinarily perspire freely, have now a dry, rough skin; whereas those whose skin is not naturally moist, have copious perspiration, which may be of a peculiarly strong odor. Copper-colored or yellow blotches sometimes appear upon the skin, mole spots become darker and larger, and a dark ring developes itself beneath the eyes.

The whole appearance is thus in many cases altered. On the other hand, obstinate, long-existing skin affections sometimes take their departure during pregnancy, perhaps never to return. These alterations do not occur in all women, nor in all pregnancies of the same woman.

7. We may now group together a number of less important and less constant signs, such as _depraved appet.i.te_, _longings for unnatural food_, _excessive formation of saliva in the mouth_, _heartburn, loss of appet.i.te_ in the first two or three months, succeeded by a voracious desire for food, which sometimes compels the woman to rise at night in order to eat, _toothache_, _sleepiness_, _diarrha_, _palpitation of the heart_, _pain in the right side_, etc. These, when they occur singly, are of little value as evidence.

Among these, that of _depraved appet.i.te_ is by far the most important, and may be regarded as quite significant. A married woman in her ordinary health, suddenly feeling this morbid taste for chalk, charcoal, slate pencil, and other unusual articles of food, may look upon it as a strong presumptive evidence of impregnation.

When any or all of this group of symptoms accompany the ceasing to be 'regular,' the morning sickness, the changes in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s and the other signs which have been enumerated, the wife may be quite sure that she is pregnant.

8. _Changes in the mind._--The most wonderful of all the changes which attend pregnancy are those in the nervous system. The woman is rendered more susceptible, more impressible. Her character is transformed. She is no longer pleasant, confiding, gentle, and gay. She becomes hasty, pa.s.sionate, jealous, and bitter. But in those who are naturally fretful and bad-tempered a change for the better is sometimes observed, so that the members of the household learn from experience to hail with delight the mother's pregnancy as a period when clouds and storms give place to sunshine and quietness. In some rare cases, also, pregnancy confers increased force and elevation to the ideas, and augmented power to the intellect.

As this book is written for women only, we do not mention any of the signs or symptoms of pregnancy which medical men alone can recognize. We will merely state that there are many other signs besides these referred to, of great value to the doctor. One, the sound of the heart of the child, which the practised ear can detect at about the fifth month, is positive and conclusive.

MISCARRIAGE.

Miscarriage is a fruitful source of disease, and often of danger, to wives. It also causes a frightful waste of human life. Unborn thousands annually die in this manner.

_Frequency._--Miscarriage is by no means a rare occurrence. Statistics show that thirty-seven out of one hundred mothers miscarry before they attain the age of thirty years. But this accident is much more apt to occur during the latter than during the first half of the child-bearing period; and therefore it is estimated that ninety out of one hundred of all women who continue in matrimony until the change of life, miscarry.

_Influence of age of mother._--A woman who marries at forty is very much disposed to miscarry; whereas, had she married at thirty, she might have borne children when older than forty. As a mother approaches the end of her child-bearing period, it is likely that she will terminate her career of fertility with a premature birth. The last pregnancies are not only most commonly unsuccessful, but there is also reason to believe that the occurrence of idiocy in a child may be a.s.sociated with the circ.u.mstance of its being the last-born of its mother. It has been a.s.serted, in this connection, that men of genius are frequently the first-born. First pregnancies are also fraught with the danger of miscarriage, which occurs more often in them than in others, excepting the latest. A woman is particularly apt to miscarry with her first child, if she be either exceedingly nervous or full-blooded.

_Influence of period of pregnancy._--Miscarriage is most frequent in the earlier months of pregnancy--from the first to the third. It is also very p.r.o.ne to happen about the sixth month. Habit makes itself felt here; for women who have many times experienced this sad accident, encounter it nearly always at the same epoch of their pregnancy.

_How early can the child live?_--The infant is incapable, as a rule, of an independent existence, if brought into the world before the end of the sixth month. The law of France regards a child born one hundred and eighty days after wedlock as not only capable of living, but as legitimate and worthy of all legal and civil rights. There are many cases mentioned, by the older medical writers, of children born previous to this period living. One of the most curious is that recorded by Van Swieten. The boy Fortunio Liceti was brought into the world before the sixth month, in consequence of a fright his mother had at sea. When born, it is said, he was the size of a hand, and his father placed him in an oven, for the purpose, probably, it has been suggested, of making him _rise_. Although born prematurely, he died late, for we are told that he attained his seventy-ninth year. Professor Gunning S. Bedford of New York records the case of a woman in her fourth confinement, who, before she had completed her sixth month, was delivered of a female infant weighing two pounds nine ounces. The surface of the body was of a scarlet hue. It breathed, and in a short time after birth cried freely.

After being wrapped in soft cotton, well lubricated with warm sweet-oil, it was fed with the mother's milk, by having a few drops at a time put into its mouth. At first it had great difficulty in swallowing, but gradually it succeeded in taking sufficient nourishment, and is now a vigorous, healthy young woman.

_Dangers to mother._--Wives are too much in the habit of making light of miscarriages. They are much more frequently followed by disease of the womb than are confinements at full terms. There is a greater amount of injury done to the parts than in natural labor. While after confinement ample time is afforded by a long period of repose for the bruised and lacerated parts to heal, after a miscarriage no such rest is obtained.

Menstruation soon returns; conception may quickly follow. Unhappily, there is no custom requiring husband and wife to sleep apart for a month after a miscarriage, as there is after a confinement. Hence, especially if there be any pre-existing uterine disease, or a predisposition thereto, miscarriage is a serious thing.

_Causes._--The irritation of hemorrhoids or straining at stool will sometimes provoke an early expulsion of a child. Excessive intercourse by the newly married is a very frequent cause. Bathing in the ocean has been known to produce it. Nursing is exceedingly apt to do so. It has been shown by a distinguished medical writer, that, in a given number of instances, miscarriage occurred in seventeen per cent. of cases in which the woman conceived while nursing, and in only ten per cent. where conception occurred at some other time. A wife, therefore, who suspects herself to be pregnant, should wean her child. The extraction of a tooth, over-exertion and over-excitement, a fall, a blow, any violent emotion, such as anger, sudden and excessive joy, or fright, running, dancing, horseback exercise, or riding in a badly-built carriage over a rough road, great fatigue, lifting heavy weights, the abuse of purgative medicines, disease or displacement of the womb, small-pox, or a general condition of ill-health, are all fruitful and well-known exciting causes of this unfortunate mishap, in addition to those which have been before mentioned.