The Physical Life of Woman: Advice to the Maiden, Wife and Mother Part 19

TO PRESERVE THE FORM AFTER CHILDBIRTH.

This is a matter of great anxiety with many women; and it is proper that it should be, for a flabby, pendulous abdomen is not only destructive to grace of movement and harmony of outline, but is a positive inconvenience.

To avoid it, be careful not to leave the bed too early. If the walls of the abdomen are much relaxed, the bed should be kept from two to three weeks. Gentle frictions daily with spirits and water will give tone to the muscles. But the most important point is to wear for several months a _well-fitting_ bandage--not a towel pinned around the person, but a body-case of strong linen, cut bias, setting snugly to the form, but not exerting unpleasant pressure. The pattern for this has already been given.

THE MOTHER.

_MATERNAL DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES._

It has been well said by Madame Sirey, that women who comprehend well their rights and duties as mothers of families, certainly cannot complain of their destiny. If there exists any inequality in the means of pleasure accorded to the two s.e.xes, it is in favor of the woman. The mother who lives in her children and her grandchildren has the peculiar privilege of not knowing the grief of becoming old.

'So low down in the scale of creation as we can go,' says Professor Layc.o.c.k of Edinburgh, 'wherever there is a discoverable distinction of s.e.x, we find that maternity is the first and most fundamental duty of the female. The male never in a single instance, in any organism, whether plant or animal, contributes nutrient material.'

Among the Romans, it was enacted that married women who had borne three children, or if freed-women, four, had special privileges of their own in cases of inheritance, and were exempted from tutelage. Juvenal has recorded the reverence paid in Rome to the newly-made mother, and the sign by which her house was designated and protected from rude intruders, namely, by the suspension of wreaths over the door.

At various times, and in different countries, legislators have made laws discriminating in favor of matrons, justly regarding the family as the source of the wealth and prosperity of the State.

Louis XIV. granted, by the edict of 1666, certain pensions to parents of ten children, with an increase for those who had twelve or more.

NURSING.

So soon as the infant is born, it ought to be placed at the breast. From this source it should receive its _only_ nourishment during the first four or six months, and in many cases the first year, of its life. The child which the mother has carried for nine months and brought with suffering into the world, still depends upon her for its existence. At the moment of its birth her duties to the infant, instead of ceasing, augment in importance. The obligation is imposed upon her of nourishing it with _her own_ milk, unless there are present physical conditions rendering nursing improper, of which we are about to speak. It is well known that the artificial feeding of infants is a prominent cause of mortality in early life. The foundlings of large cities furnish the most striking and convincing proof of the great advantages of nursing over the use of artificially-prepared food. On the continent of Europe, in Lyons and Parthenay, where foundlings are wet-nursed from the time they are received, the deaths are 33.7 and 35 per cent. In Paris, Rheims, and Aix, where they are wholly dry-nursed, their deaths are 50.3, 63.9, and 80 per cent. In New York city, the foundlings, numbering several hundred a year, were, until recently, dry-nursed, with the fearful and almost incredible mortality of nearly one hundred per cent. The employment of wet-nurses has produced a much more favorable result. Therefore, if for any reason the mother cannot nurse her own child, a hired wet-nurse should be procured. This brings us to the consideration of

HINDRANCES TO NURSING, AND WHEN IT IS IMPROPER.

Women who have never suckled often experience difficulty in nursing, on account of the sunken and flat condition of the nipple. We have pointed out the causes of this depression, and how by early attention before the birth of the infant it may be prevented. If, however, these precautions have been neglected, and it is found that the nipple is not sufficiently prominent to be grasped by the child's mouth, it may be drawn out by a common breast-pump, by suction with a tobacco-pipe, by the use of the hot-water bottle in the manner described, or by the application of an infant a little older. Neither the child nor the mother should be constantly fretted in such cases by frequent ineffectual attempts at nursing. Such unremitting attention and continual efforts produce nervousness and loss of sleep, and result in a diminution of the quant.i.ty of the milk. The child should not be put to the breast oftener than once in an hour and a half or two hours. By the use of the expedients mentioned, the whole difficulty will be overcome in a few days.

_Delay in applying the child to the breast_ is a common cause of trouble. After it has been fed for several days with the spoon or bottle, it will often refuse to suck. When nursing is deferred, the nipple also becomes tender. For these reasons, as well as the others detailed in our directions for the care of the new-born infant, the child should always, in say from two to three hours after labor, be placed at the breast.

_Ulcerated and fissured nipples_ should be treated by the doctor in attendance. As it is highly desirable, and nearly always possible, to avoid them, we would again call attention to the manner of doing so, indicated in a previous article. Fissured nipples sometimes do harm to the infant, by causing it to swallow blood, disturbing in this way the digestion. But all these local interferences with nursing can generally be obviated in the course of a few weeks, and rarely entirely prevent the exercise of this maternal pleasure and duty.

But there are certain _physical conditions which necessitate the employment of a hired wet-nurse_, or weaning. If the mother belongs to a consumptive family, and is herself pale, emaciated, hara.s.sed by a cough, and exhausted by suckling, wet-nursing is eminently improper. A temporary loss of strength under other circ.u.mstances should not induce a mother at once to wean her child; for it is often possible, by the judicious use of tonics, nourishing food, and stimulants, to entirely restore the health with the child at the breast. It should always be recollected, however, that the milk of those in decidedly infirm health is incapable of properly nourishing the child. Professor J. Lewis Smith of New York quotes, in his recent work on Diseases of Children, several instructive cases which show the danger sometimes attending suckling, and which may imperatively demand its discontinuance. 'A very light-complexioned young mother, in very good health, and of a good const.i.tution, though somewhat delicate, was nursing for the third time, and, as regarded the child, successfully. All at once this young woman experienced a feeling of exhaustion. Her skin became constantly hot; there were cough, oppression, night-sweats; her strength visibly declined, and in less than a fortnight she presented the ordinary symptoms of consumption. The nursing was immediately abandoned, and from the moment the secretion of milk had ceased, all the troubles disappeared.' Again: 'A woman of forty years of age having lost, one after another, several children, all of which she had put out to nurse, determined to nurse the last one herself. This woman being vigorous and well built, was eager for the work, and, filled with devotion and spirit, she gave herself up to the nursing of her child with a sort of fury. At nine months she still nursed him from fifteen to twenty times a day. Having become extremely emaciated, she fell all at once into a state of weakness, from which nothing could raise her, and two days after the poor woman died of exhaustion.'

It does not always follow, that because the mother is sick the child should be taken from the breast. It is only necessary in those affections in which there is great depression of the vital powers, or in which there is danger of communicating the disease to the child. In the city, where artificially-fed infants run great risks, extreme caution should be exercised in early weaning.

_Inflammation of either of the b.r.e.a.s.t.s_ necessitates the removal of the infant from the affected side, and its restriction to the other. As the inflammation gets well and the milk reappears, the first of it should always be rejected, as it is apt to be thick and stringy, after which nursing may be resumed.

RULES FOR NURSING.

The new-born child should be nursed about every second hour during the day, and not more than once or twice at night. Too much ardor may be displayed by the young mother in the performance of her duties. Not knowing the fact that an infant quite as frequently cries from being overfed as from want of nourishment, she is apt to give it the breast at every cry, day and night. In this manner her health is broken down, and she is compelled perhaps to wean her child, which, with more prudence and knowledge, she might have continued to nurse without detriment to herself. It is particularly important that the child shall acquire the habit of not requiring the breast more than once or twice at night.

This, with a little perseverance, can readily be accomplished, so that the hours for rest at night, so much needed by the mother, may not be interfered with. Indeed, if the mother does not enjoy good health, it is better for her not to nurse at all at night, but to have the child fed once or twice with a little cow's milk. For this purpose, take the upper third of the milk which has stood for several hours and dilute it with water, in the proportion of one part of milk to two of water.

In those cases in which the milk of the mother habitually disagrees with the infant, the attention of the doctor should at once be called to the circ.u.mstance. A microscopic examination will reveal to the intelligent pract.i.tioner the cause of the difficulty, and suggest the remedy.

It may be well here to mention--as, judging from the practice of many nurses and mothers, it seems to be a fact not generally known or attended to--that human milk contains _all that is required_ for the growth and repair of the various parts of the child's body. It should therefore be the sole food in early infancy.

INFLUENCE OF DIET ON THE MOTHER'S MILK.

Certain articles of food render the milk acid, and thus induce colicky pains and bowel complaints in the child. Such, therefore, as are found, in each individual case, to produce indigestion and an acid stomach in the mother, should be carefully avoided by her.

_Retention of the milk in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s_ alters its character. The longer it is retained, the weaker and more watery it becomes. An acquaintance with this fact is of practical importance to every mother; for it follows from it, that the milk is richer the oftener it is removed from the breast. Therefore, if the digestion of the child is disordered by the milk being too rich, as sometimes happens, the remedy is to give it the breast less frequently by which not only is less taken, but the quality is also rendered poorer. On the contrary, in those instances in which the child is badly nourished and the milk is insufficient in quant.i.ty, it should be applied oftener, and the milk thus rendered richer.

The milk which last flows is always the richest. Hence, when two children are nursed, the first is the worse served.

INFLUENCE OF PREGNANCY ON THE MILK.

Menstruation is ordinarily absent, and pregnancy therefore impossible, during the whole course of nursing, at least during the first nine months. Sometimes, however, mothers become unwell at the expiration of the sixth or seventh month; in rare instances, within the first five or six weeks after confinement. When the monthly sickness makes its appearance without any const.i.tutional or local disturbance, it is not apt to interfere with the welfare of the infant. When, on the contrary, the discharge is profuse, and attended with much pain, it may produce colic, vomiting, and diarrha in the nursling. The disturbance in the system of the child ordinarily resulting from pregnancy in the mother is such that, as a rule, it should be at once weaned so soon as it is certain that pregnancy exists. The only exceptions to this rule are those cases in the city, during the hot months, in which it is impossible either to procure a wet-nurse or to take the child to the country to be weaned. In cold weather an infant should certainly be weaned, if it has attained its fifth or sixth month, and the mother has become pregnant.

INFLUENCE OF THE MOTHER'S MIND OVER THE NURSING CHILD.

We have spoken, in treating of mothers' marks, of the influence of the mother's mind upon her unborn offspring. The influence of the maternal mind does not cease with the birth of the child. The mother continues during the whole period of nursing powerfully to impress, through her milk, the babe at her breast. It is well established, that mental emotions are capable of changing the quant.i.ty and quality of the milk, and of thus rendering it hurtful, and even dangerous, to the infant.

_The secretion of milk may be entirely stopped_ by the action of the nervous system. Fear, excited on account of the child which is sick or exposed to accident, will check the flow of milk, which will not return until the little one is restored in safety to the mother's arms.

Apprehension felt in regard to a drunken husband, has been known to arrest the supply of this fluid. On the other hand, the secretion is often augmented, as every mother knows, by the _sight_ of the child, nay, even by the _thought_ of him, causing a sudden rush of blood to the breast known to nurses as the _draught_. Indeed a strong desire to furnish milk, together with the application of the child to the breast, has been effectual in bringing about its secretion in young girls, old women, and even men.

Sir Astley Cooper states that 'those pa.s.sions which are generally sources of pleasure, and which when moderately indulged are conducive to health, will, when carried to excess, alter, and even entirely check the secretion of milk.'

But the fact which it is most important to know is, that _nervous agitation may so alter the quality of the milk as to make it poisonous_.

A fretful temper, fits of anger, grief, anxiety of mind, fear, and sudden terror, not only lessen the quant.i.ty of the milk, but render it thin and unhealthful, inducing disturbances of the child's bowels, diarrha, griping, and fever. Intense mental emotion may even so alter the milk as to cause the death of the child. A physician states, in the _Lancet_, that, having removed a small tumour from behind the ear of a mother, all went on well until she fell into a violent pa.s.sion. The child being suckled soon afterwards, it died in convulsions. Professor Carpenter records in his Physiology two other fatal instances: in one, the infant put to the breast immediately after the receipt of distressing news by the mother, died in her arms in the presence of the messenger of the ill-tidings; in the other, the infant was seized with convulsions on the right side and paralysis on the left, on sucking directly after the mother had met with an agitating occurrence. Another case of similar character may be mentioned. A woman while nursing became violently excited on account of a loss she had just met with from a theft. She gave her child the breast while in an intense pa.s.sion. The child first refused, but ultimately took it, when severe vomiting occurred. In the course of some hours the child took the other breast, was attacked at once with violent convulsions, and died in spite of all that could be done for it.

The following cases are related by Professor Carpenter as occurring within his own knowledge. They are valuable as a warning to nursing mothers to avoid all exciting or depressing pa.s.sions. A mother of several healthy children, of whom the youngest was a vigorous infant a few months old, heard of the death from convulsions of the infant child of an intimate friend at a distance, whose family had increased in the same manner as her own. The unfortunate circ.u.mstance made a strong impression on her mind, and being alone with her babe, separated from the rest of her family, she dwelt upon it more than she otherwise would have done. With her mind thus occupied, one morning, shortly after nursing her infant, she laid it in its cradle, asleep and apparently in perfect health. Her attention was soon attracted to it by a noise. On going to the cradle she found it in a convulsion, which lasted only a few moments, and left it dead. In the other case, the mother had lost several children in early infancy, from fits. One infant alone survived the usually fatal period. While nursing him, one morning she dwelt strongly upon the fear of losing him also, although he appeared to be a very healthy child. The infant was transferred to the arms of the nurse.

While the nurse was endeavouring to cheer the mother by calling her attention to the thriving appearance of her child, he was seized with a convulsion, and died almost instantly in her arms. Under similar circ.u.mstances, a child should not be nursed by its mother, but by one who has reared healthy children of her own and has a tranquil mind.

An interesting ill.u.s.tration of the powerful sedative action of the mother's milk--changed in consequence of great mental distress--upon the impressible nervous system of the infant, is furnished by a German physician. 'A carpenter fell into a quarrel with a soldier billeted in his house, and was set upon by the latter with his drawn sword. The wife of the carpenter at first trembled from fear and terror, and then suddenly threw herself furiously between the combatants, wrested the sword from the soldier's hand, broke it in pieces, and threw it away.

During the tumult, some neighbors came in and separated the men. While in this state of strong excitement, the mother took up her child from the cradle, where it lay playing and in the most perfect health, never having had a moment's illness. She gave it the breast, and in so doing sealed its fate. In a few minutes the infant left off sucking, became restless, panted, and sank dead upon its mother's bosom. The physician, who was instantly called in, found the child lying in the cradle as if asleep, and with its features undisturbed; but all his resources were fruitless. It was irrevocably gone.'

Professor William A. Hammond of New York mentions, in a recent number of the _Journal of Psychological Medicine_, several instances, from his own practice, of affections in the child caused by the mother's milk. 'A soldier's wife, whilst nursing her child, was very much terrified by a sudden thunderstorm, during which the house where she was then quartered was struck by lightning. The infant, which had always been in excellent health, was immediately attacked with vomiting and convulsions, from which it recovered with difficulty.' 'A lady, three weeks after delivery, was attacked with puerperal insanity. She nursed her child but once after the accession of the disease, and in two hours subsequently it was affected with general convulsions, from which it died during the night. Previous to this event it had been in robust health.'

Again, Dr. Seguin of New York relates, in his work on Idiocy, a number of cases of _loss of mind_ produced by the altered state of the mother's milk. 'Mrs. B. came out from a ball-room, gave the breast to her baby, three months old: he was taken with spasms two hours after, and since is a confirmed idiot and epileptic.'

'In a moment of great anxiety Mrs. C. jumped into a carriage with her suckling, a girl of fifteen months, so far very intelligent and attractive. The child took the breast only once in a journey of twenty miles, but before arriving at destination she vomited several times, with no interruption but that of stupor, and after an acute fever the little girl settled down into the condition of a cripple and idiot.'

The celebrated physician Boerhaave mentions the milk of an angry nurse as among the causes of _epilepsy._

These facts show the importance of a placid mind and cheerful temper in the mother while nursing.

POSITION OF THE MOTHER WHILE NURSING.