1. TOO OFTEN THE HUSBAND thinks only of his personal gratification; he
insists upon what he calls his rights (?); forces on his wife an _unwelcome
child_, and thereby often alienates her affections, if he does not drive
her to abortion.
Dr Stockham reports the following case: "A woman once consulted me who was
the mother of five children, all born within ten years. These were puny,
scrofulous, nervous and irritable. She herself was a fit subject for
doctors and drugs. Every organ in her body seemed diseased, and every
function perverted. She was dragging out a miserable existence. Like other
physicians, I had prescribed in vain for her many maladies. One day she
chanced to inquire how she could safely prevent conception. This led me to
ask how great was the danger. She said: 'Unless my husband is absent from
home, few nights have been exempt since we were married, except it may be
three or four immediately after confinement.'
"'And yet your husband loves you?'
"'O, yes, he is kind and provides for his family. Perhaps I might love him
but for this. While now--(will God forgive me?)--_I detest, I loathe him_,
and if I knew how to support myself and children, I would leave him.'
"'Can you talk with him upon this subject?'
"'I think I can.'
"' Then there is hope, for many women cannot do that. Tell him I will give
you treatment to improve your health, and if he will wait until you can
respond, _take time for the act, have it entirely mutual from first to
last_, the demand will not come so frequent.'
"'Do you think so?'
"'The experience of many proves the truth of this statement.'
"Hopefully she went home, and in six months I had the satisfaction of
knowing my patient was restored to health, and a single coition in a month
gave the husband more satisfaction than the many had done previously, that
the creative power was under control, and that my lady could proudly say 'I
love,' where previously she said 'I hate.'
"If husbands will listen, a few simple instructions will {259} appeal to
their _common sense_, and none can imagine the gain to themselves, to their
wives and children, and their children's children. Then it may not be said
of the babes that the 'Death borders on their birth, and their cradle
stands in the grave.'"
2. WIVES! BE FRANK AND TRUE to your husbands on the subject of maternity,
and the relation that leads to it. Interchange thoughts and feelings with
them as to what nature allows or demands in regard to these. Can maternity
be natural when it is undesigned by the father or undesired by the mother?
Can a maternity be natural, healthful, ennobling to the mother, to the
child, to the father, and to the home, when no loving, tender, anxious
forethought presides over the relation in which it originated?--when the
mother's nature loathed and repelled it, and the father's only thought was
his own selfish gratification; the feelings and conditions of the mother,
and the health, character and destiny of the child that may result being
ignored by him. Wives! let there be a perfect and loving understanding
between you and your husbands on these matters, and great will be your
reward.
3. A WOMAN WRITES:--"There are few, very few, wives and mothers who could
not reveal a sad, dark picture in their own experience in their relations
to their husbands and their children. Maternity, and the relation in which
it originates, are thrust upon them by their husbands, often without regard
to their spiritual or physical conditions, and often in contempt of their
earnest and urgent entreaties. No joy comes to their heart at the
conception and birth of their children, except that which arises from the
consciousness that they have survived the sufferings wantonly and selfishly
inflicted upon them."
4. HUSBAND, WHEN MATERNITY is imposed on your wife without her consent, and
contrary to her appeal, how will her mind necessarily be affected towards
her child? It was conceived in dread and in bitterness of spirit. Every
stage of its foetal development is watched with feeling of settled
repugnance. In every step of its ante-natal progress the child meets only
with grief and indignation in the mother. She would crush out its life, if
she could. She loathed its conception; she loathed it in every stage of its
ante-natal development. Instead of fixing her mind on devising ways and
means for the healthful and happy organization and {260} development of her
child before it is born, and for its postnatal comfort and support, her
soul may be intent on its destruction, and her thoughts devise plans to
kill it. In this, how often is she aided by others! There are those, and
they are called men and women, whose profession is to devise ways to kill
children before they are born. Those who do this would not hesitate (but
for the consequences) to kill them after they are born, for the state of
mind that would justify and instigate _ante-natal_ child-murder would
justify and instigate _post-natal_ child-murder. Yet, public sentiment
consigns the murderer of post-natal children to the dungeon or the gallows,
while the murderers of ante-natal children are often allowed to pass in
society as honest and honorable men and women.
5. THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXTRACT from a letter written by one who has proudly
and nobly filled the station of a wife and mother, and whose children and
grandchildren surround her and crown her life with tenderest love and
respect:
"It has often been a matter of wonder to me that men should, so heedlessly,
and so injuriously to themselves, their wives and children, and their
homes, demand at once, as soon as they get legal possession of their wives,
the gratification of a passion, which, when indulged merely for the sake of
the gratification of the moment, must end in the destruction of all that is
beautiful, noble and divine in man or woman. I have often felt that I would
give the world for a friendship with man that should show no impurity in
its bearing, and for a conjugal relation that would, at all times, heartily
and practically recognize the right of the wife to decide for herself when
she should enter into the relation that leads to maternity."
6. TIMELY ADVICE.--Here let me say that on no subject should a man and
woman, as they are being attracted into conjugal relations, be more open
and truthful with each other than on this. No woman, who would save herself
and the man she loves from a desecrated and wretched home, should enter
into the physical relations of marriage with a man until she understands
what he expects of her as to the function of maternity, and the relation
that leads to it. If a woman is made aware that the man who would win her
as a wife regards her and the marriage relation only as the means of a
legalized gratification of his passions, and she sees fit to live with him
as a wife, with such a prospect before her, she must take the consequences
of a course so {261} degrading and so shameless. If she sees fit to make an
offering of her body and soul on the altar of her husband's sensuality, she
must do it; but she has a right to know to what base uses her womanhood is
to be put, and it is due to her, as well as to himself, that he should tell
beforehand precisely what he wants and expects of her.
Too frequently, man shrinks from all allusion, during courtship, to his
expectations in regard to future passional relations. He fears to speak of
them, lest he should shock and repel the woman he would win as a wife.
Being conscious, it may be, of an intention to use power he may acquire
over her person for his own gratification, he shuns all interchange of
views with her, lest she should divine the hidden sensualism of his soul,
and his intention to victimize her person to it the moment he shall get the
license. A woman had better die at once than enter into or continue in
marriage with a man whose highest conception of the relation is, that it is
a means of licensed animal indulgence. In such a relation, body and soul
are sacrificed.
7. ONE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTIC of a true and noble husband is a feeling
of manly pride in the physical elements of his manhood. His physical
manhood, as well as his soul, is dear to the heart of his wife, because
through this he can give the fullest expression of his manly power. How can
you, my friend, secure for your person the loving care and respect of your
wife? There is but one way: so manifest yourself to her, in the hours of
your most endearing intimacies, that all your manly power shall be
associated only with all that is generous, just and noble in you, and with
purity, freedom and happiness in her. Make her feel that all which
constitutes you a man, and qualifies you to be her husband and the father
of her children, belongs to her, and is sacredly consecrated to the
perfection and happiness of her nature. Do this, and the happiness of your
home is made complete. Your _body_ will be lovingly and reverently cared
for, because the wife of your bosom feels that it is the sacred symbol
through which a noble, manly love is ever speaking to her, to cheer and
sustain her.
8. WOMAN IS EVER PROUD, and justly so, of the manly passion of her husband,
when she knows it is controlled by a love for her, whose manifestations
have regard only to her elevation and happiness. The power which, when bent
only on selfish indulgence, becomes a source of more shame, degradation,
disease and wretchedness, to {262} women and to children than all other
things put together, does but ennoble her, add grace and glory to her
being, and concentrate and vitalize the love that encircles her as a wife
when it is controlled by wisdom and consecrated to her highest growth and
happiness, and that of her children. It lends enchantment to her person,
and gives a fascination to her smiles, her words and her caresses, which
ever breathe of purity and of heaven, and make her all lovely as a wife and
mother to her husband and the father of her child. _Manly passion is to the
conjugal love of the wife like the sun to the rose-bud, that opens its
petals, and causes them to give out their sweetest fragrance and to display
their most delicate tints; or like the frost, which chills and kills it ere
it blossoms in its richness and beauty._
9. A DIADEM OF BEAUTY.--Maternity, when it exists at the call of the wife,
and is gratefully received, but binds her heart more tenderly and devotedly
to her husband. As the father of her child, he stands before her invested
with new beauty and dignity. In receiving from him the germ of a new life,
she receives that which she feels is to add new beauty and glory to her as
a woman--a new grace and attraction to her as a wife. She loves and honors
him, because he has crowned her with the glory of a mother. Maternity, to
her, instead of being repulsive, is a diadem of beauty, a crown of
rejoicing; and deep, tender, and self-forgetting are her love and reverence
for him who has placed it on her brow. How noble, how august, how beautiful
is maternity when thus bestowed and received!
10. CONCLUSION.--Would you, then, secure the love and trust of your wife,
and become an object of her ever-growing tenderness and reverence? Assure
her, by all your manifestations, and your perfect respect for the functions
of her nature, that your passion shall be in subjection of her wishes. It
is not enough that you have secured in her heart respect for your spiritual
and intellectual manhood. To maintain your self-respect in your relations
with her, to perfect your growth and happiness as a husband, you must cause
your _physical_ nature to be tenderly cherished and reverenced by her in
all the sacred intimacies of home. No matter how much she reverences your
intellectual or your social power, if by reason of your uncalled-for
passional manifestations you have made your physical manhood disagreeable,
how can you, in her presence, preserve a sense of manly pride and dignity
as a husband?
* * * * *
{263}
Heredity and the Transmission of Diseases.
[Illustration: HEALTH AND DISEASE.]
1. BAD HABITS.--It is known that the girl who marries the man with bad
habits, is, in a measure, responsible for the evil tendencies which these
habits have created in the children; and young people are constantly warned
of the danger in marrying when they know they come from families troubled
with chronic diseases or insanity. To be sure the warnings have had little
effect thus far in preventing such marriages, and it is doubtful whether
they will, unless the prophecy of an extremist writing for one of our
periodicals comes to pass--that the time is not far distant when such
marriages will be a crime punishable by law. {264}
2. TENDENCY IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.--That there is a tendency in the right
direction must be admitted, and is perhaps most clearly shown in some of
the articles on prison reform. Many of them strongly urge the necessity of
preventive work as the truest economy, and some go so far as to say that if
the present human knowledge of the laws of heredity were acted upon for a
generation, reformatory measures would be rendered unnecessary.
3. SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES.--The mother who has ruined her health by late
hours, highly-spiced food, and general carelessness in regard to hygienic
laws, and the father who is the slave of questionable habits, will be very
sure to have children either mentally or morally inferior to what they
might otherwise have had a right to expect. But the prenatal influences may
be such that evils arising from such may be modified to a great degree.
4. FORMATION OF CHARACTER.--I believe that pre-natal influences may do as
much in the formation of character as all the education that can come
after, and that the mother may, in a measure, "will" what that influence
shall be, and that, as knowledge on the subject increases, it will be more
and more under their control. In that, as in everything else, things that
would be possible with one mother would not be with another, and measures
that would be successful with one would produce opposite results from the
other.
5. INHERITING DISEASE. Consumption--that dread foe of modern life--is the
most frequently encountered of all affections as the result of inherited
predispositions. Indeed, some of the most eminent physicians have believed
it is never produced in any other way. Heart disease, disease of the
throat, excessive obesity, affections of the skin, asthma, disorders of the
brain and nervous system, gout, rheumatism and cancer, are all hereditary.
A tendency to bleed frequently, profusely and uncontrollably, from trifling
wounds, is often met with as a family affection.
6. MENTAL DERANGEMENTS.--Almost all forms of mental derangements are
hereditary--one of the parents or near relation being afflicted. Physical
or bodily weakness is often hereditary, such as scrofula, gout, rheumatism,
rickets, consumption, apoplexy, hernia, urinary calculi, hemorrhoids or
piles, cataract, etc. In fact, all physical weakness, if ingrafted in
either parent, is transmitted from parents to offspring, and is often more
strongly marked in the latter than in the former.
7. MARKS AND DEFORMITIES.--Marks and deformities are all transmissible from
parents to offspring, equally with {265} diseases and peculiar
proclivities. Among such blemishes may be mentioned moles, hair-lips,
deficient or supernumerary fingers, toes, and other characteristics. It is
also asserted that dogs and cats that have accidentally lost their tails,
bring forth young similarly deformed. Blumenbach tells of a man who had
lost his little finger, having children with the same deformity.
8. CAUTION.--Taking facts like these into consideration, how very important
is it for persons, before selecting partners for life, to deliberately
weigh every element and circumstances of this nature, if they would insure
a felicitous union, and not entail upon their posterity disease, misery and
despair. Alas! in too many instances matrimony is made a matter of money,
while all earthly joys are sacrificed upon the accursed altars of lust and
mammon.
[Illustration]
{266}
Preparation for Maternity.
1. WOMAN BEFORE MARRIAGE.--It is not too much to say that the life of women
before marriage ought to be adjusted with more reference to their duties as
mothers than to any other one earthly object. It is the continuance of the
race which is the chief purpose of marriage. The passion of amativeness is
probably, on the whole, the most powerful of all human impulses. Its
purpose, however, is rather to subserve the object of continuing the
species, than merely its own gratification.
2. EXERCISE.--Girls should be brought up to live much in the open air,
always with abundant clothing against wet and cold. They should be
encouraged to take much active exercise; as much, if they want to, as boys.
It is as good for little girls to run and jump, to ramble in the woods, to
go boating, to ride and drive, to play and "have fun" generally, as for
little boys.
3. PRESERVE THE SIGHT.--Children should be carefully prevented from using
their eyes to read or write, or in any equivalent exertion, either before
breakfast, by dim daylight, or by artificial light. Even school studies
should be such that they can be dealt with by daylight. Lessons that cannot
be learned without lamp-light study are almost certainly excessive. This
precaution should ordinarily be maintained until the age of puberty is
reached.
4. BATHING.--Bathing should be enforced according to constitutions, not by
an invariable rule, except the invariable rule of keeping clean. Not
necessarily every day, nor necessarily in cold water; though those
conditions are doubtless often right in case of abundant physical health
and strength.
5. WRONG HABITS.--The habit of daily natural evacuations should be
solicitously formed and maintained. Words or figures could never express
the discomforts and wretchedness which wrong habits in this particular have
locked down upon innumerable women for years and even for life.
6. DRESS.--Dress should be warm, loose, comely, and modest rather than
showy; but it should be good enough to satisfy a child's desires after a
good appearance, if they are reasonable. Children, indeed, should have all
their reasonable desires granted as far as possible; for nothing makes them
reasonable so rapidly and so surely as to treat them reasonably.
{267}
7. TIGHT LACING.--Great harm is often done to maidens for want of knowledge
in them, or wisdom and care in their parents. The extremes of fashions are
very prone to violate not only taste, but physiology. Such cases are tight
lacing, low necked dresses, thin shoes, heavy skirts. And yet, if the
ladies only knew, the most attractive costumes are not the extremes of
fashion, but those which conform to fashion enough to avoid oddity, which
preserve decorum and healthfulness, whether or no; and here is the great
secret of successful dress--vary fashion so as to suit the style of the
individual.
8. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.--Last of all, parental care in the use of
whatever influence can be exerted in the matter of courtship and marriage.
Maidens, as well as youths, must, after all, choose for themselves. It is
their own lives which they take in their hands as they enter the marriage
state, and not their parents'; and as the consequences affect them
primarily it is the plainest justice that with the responsibility should be
joined the right of choice. The parental influence, then, must be indirect
and advisory. Indirect, through the whole bringing up of their daughter;
for if they have trained her aright, she will be incapable of enduring a
fool, still more a knave.
9. A YOUNG WOMAN AND A YOUNG MAN HAD BETTER NOT BE ALONE TOGETHER VERY MUCH
UNTIL THEY ARE MARRIED.--This will be found to prevent a good many
troubles. It is not meant to imply that either sex, or any member of it, is
worse than another, or bad at all, or anything but human. It is simply the
prescription of a safe general rule. It is no more an imputation than the
rule that people had better not be left without oversight in presence of
large sums of other folks' money. The close personal proximity of the sexes
is greatly undesirable before marriage. Kisses and caresses are most
properly the monopoly of wives. Such indulgences have a direct and powerful
physiological effect. Nay, they often lead to the most fatal results.
10. IGNORANCE BEFORE MARRIAGE.--At some time before marriage those who are
to enter into it ought to be made acquainted with some of the plainest
common-sense limitations which should govern their new relations to each
other. Ignorance in such matters has caused an infinite amount of disgust,
pain, and unhappiness. It is not necessary to specify particulars here: see
other portions of this work.
* * * * *
{269}
Impregnation.
[Illustration: A HEALTHY MOTHER.]
1. CONCEPTION OR IMPREGNATION.--Conception or impregnation takes place by
the union of the male sperm and female sperm. Whether this is accomplished
in the ovaries, the oviducts or the uterus, is still a question of
discussion and investigation by physiologists.
2. PASSING OFF THE OVUM.--"With many woman," says Dr. Stockham in her
Tokology, "the ovum passes off within twenty-four or forty-eight hours
after menstruation begins. Some, by careful observation, are able to know
with certainty when this takes place. It is often accompanied with malaise,
nervousness, headache or actual uterine pain. A minute substance like the
white of an egg; with a fleck of blood in it, can frequently be seen upon
the clothing. Ladies who have noticed this phenomenon testify to its
recurring very regularly upon the same day after menstruation. Some
delicate women have observed it as late as the fourteenth day."
3. CALCULATIONS.--Conception is more liable to take place either
immediately before or immediately after the period, and, on that account it
is usual when calculating the date at which to expect labor, to count from
the day of disappearance of the last period. The easiest way to make a
calculation is to count back three months from the date of the last period
and add seven days; thus we might say that the date was the 18th of July;
counting back brings us to the 18th of April, and adding the seven days
will bring us to the 25th day of April, the expected time.
4. EVIDENCE OF CONCEPTION.--Very many medical authorities, distinguished in
this line, have stated their belief that women never pass more than two or
three days at the most beyond the forty weeks conceded to pregnancy--that
is two hundred and eighty days or ten lunar months, or nine calendar months
and a week. About two hundred and eighty days will represent the average
duration of pregnancy, counting from the last day of the last period. Now
it must be borne in mind, that there are many disturbing elements which
might cause the young married woman to miss a time. During the first month
of pregnancy there is no sign by which the condition may be positively
known. The missing of a period, especially in a person who has been regular
for some time, may lead one to suspect it; but there are many attendant
causes in married life, the little annoyances of household duties,
embarrassments, and the enforced gayety which naturally surrounds the
bride, and {270} these should all be taken into consideration in the
discussion as to whether or not she is pregnant. But then, again, there are
some rare cases who have menstruated throughout their pregnancy; and also
cases where menstruation was never established and pregnancy occurred.
Nevertheless, the non-appearance of the period, with other signs, may be
taken as presumptive evidence.
5. "ARTIFICIAL IMPREGNATION.--It may not be generally known that union is
not essential to impregnation; it is possible for conception to occur
without congress. All that is necessary is that seminal animalcules enter
the womb and unite there with the egg or ovum. It is not essential that the
semen be introduced through the medium of the male organ, as it has been
demonstrated repeatedly that by means of a syringe and freshly obtained and
healthy semen, impregnation can be made to follow by its careful
introduction. There are physicians in France who make a specialty of
"Artificial Impregnation," as it is called, and produce children to
otherwise childless couples, being successful in many instances in
supplying them as they are desired."
* * * * *
Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy.
1. THE FIRST SIGN.--The first sign that leads a lady to suspect that she is
pregnant is her ceasing-to-be-unwell. This, provided she has just before
been in good health, is a strong symptom of pregnancy; but still there must
be others to corroborate it.
2. ABNORMAL CONDITION.--Occasionally, women menstruate during the entire
time of gestation. This, without doubt, is an abnormal condition, and
should be remedied, as disastrous consequences may result. Also, women have
been known to bear children who have never menstruated. The cases are rare
of pregnancy taking place where menstruation has never occurred, yet it
frequently happens that women never menstruate from one pregnancy to
another. In these cases this symptom is ruled out for diagnotic purposes.
3. MAY PROCEED FROM OTHER CAUSES.--But a ceasing-to-be-unwell may proceed
from other causes than that of pregnancy, such as disease or disorder of
the womb or of other {271} organs of the body--especially of the lungs--it
is not by itself alone entirely to be depended upon; although, as a single
sign, it is, especially if the patient be healthy, one of the most reliable
of all the other signs of pregnancy.
4. MORNING SICKNESS.--If this does not arise from a disordered stomach, it
is a trustworthy sign of pregnancy. A lady who has once had
morning-sickness can always for the future distinguish it from each and
from every other sickness; it is a peculiar sickness, which no other
sickness can simulate. Moreover, it is emphatically a morning-sickness--the
patient being, as a rule, for the rest of the day entirely free from
sickness or from the feeling of sickness.
[Illustration: Embryo of Twenty Days, Laid Open.
_b_, the Back: _a_ _a_ _a_, Covering, and pinned to Back.]
5. A THIRD SYMPTOM.--A third symptom is shooting, throbbing and lancinating
pains in, and enlargement of the breasts, with soreness of the nipples,
occurring about the second month. In some instances, after the first few
months, a small quantity of watery fluid or a little milk, may be squeezed
out of them. This latter symptom, in a first pregnancy, is valuable, and
can generally be relied on as fairly conclusive of pregnancy. Milk in the
breast, however small it may be in quantity, especially in a first
pregnancy, is a reliable sign, indeed, we might say, a certain sign, of
pregnancy.
6. A DARK BROWN AREOLA OR MARK around the nipple is one of the
distinguishing signs of pregnancy--more especially of a first pregnancy.
Women who have had large families, seldom, even when they are not pregnant,
lose this mark entirely; but when they are pregnant it is more intensely
dark--the darkest brown--especially if they be brunettes.
7. QUICKENING.--Quickening is one of the most important signs of pregnancy,
and one of the most valuable, as at the moment it occurs, as a rule, the
motion of the child is first felt, whilst, at the same time, there is a
sudden increase in the size of the abdomen. Quickening is a proof that
nearly half the time of pregnancy has passed. If there be a {272} liability
to miscarry, quickening makes matters more safe, as there is less
likelihood of a miscarriage after than before it. A lady at this time
frequently feels faint or actually faints away; she is often giddy, or
sick, or nervous, and in some instances even hysterically; although, in
rare cases, some women do not even know the precise time when they quicken.
8. INCREASED SIZE AND HARDNESS OF THE ABDOMEN.--This is very characteristic
of pregnancy. When a lady is not pregnant the abdomen is soft and flaccid;
when she is pregnant, and after she has quickened, the abdomen; over the
region of the womb, is hard and resisting.
[Illustration: Embryo at Thirty Days. _a_, the Head; _b_, the Eyes; _d_,
the Neck; _e_, the Chest; _f_, the Abdomen.]
9. EXCITABILITY OF MIND.--Excitability of mind is very common in pregnancy,
more especially if the patient be delicate; indeed, excitability is a sign
of debility, and requires plenty of good nourishment, but few stimulants.
10. ERUPTIONS ON THE SKIN.--Principally on the face, neck, or throat, are
tell-tales of pregnancy, and to an experienced matron, publish the fact
that an acquaintance thus marked is pregnant.
{273}
11. THE FOETAL HEART.--In the fifth month there is a sign which, if
detected, furnishes indubitable evidence of conception, and that is the
sound of the child's heart. If the ear be placed on the abdomen, over the
womb, the beating of the foetal heart can sometimes be heard quite plainly,
and by the use of an instrument called the stethoscope, the sounds can be
still more plainly heard. This is a very valuable sign, inasmuch as the
presence of the child is not only ascertained, but also its position, and
whether there are twins or more.
[Illustration: OUR KING.]
{274}
[Illustration]
Diseases of Pregnancy.
1. COSTIVE STATE OF THE BOWELS.--A costive state of the bowels is common in
pregnancy; a mild laxative is therefore occasionally necessary. The mildest
must be selected, as a strong purgative is highly improper, and even
dangerous. Calomel and all other preparations of mercury are to be
especially avoided, as a mercurial medicine is apt to weaken the system,
and sometimes even to produce a miscarriage. Let me again urge the
importance of a lady, during the whole period of pregnancy, being
particular as to the state of her bowels, as costiveness is a fruitful
cause of painful, tedious and hard labors.
2. LAXATIVES.--The best laxatives are castor oil, salad oil, compound
rhubarb pills, honey, stewed prunes, stewed rhubarb, Muscatel raisins,
figs, grapes, roasted apples, baked pears, stewed Normandy pippins, coffee,
brown-bread and treacle. Scotch oatmeal made with new milk or water, or
with equal parts of milk and water.
3. PILLS.--When the motions are hard, and when the bowels are easily acted
upon, two, or three, or four pills made of Castile soap will frequently
answer the purpose; and if they will, are far better than any other
ordinary laxative. The following is a good form. Take of:
Castile Soap, five scruples;
Oil of Caraway, six drops;
To make twenty-four pills. Two, or three, or four to be taken at bedtime,
occasionally.
4. HONEY.--A teaspoonful of honey, either eaten at breakfast or dissolved
in a cup of tea, will frequently, comfortably and effectually, open the
bowels, and will supersede the necessity of taking laxative medicine.
5. NATURE'S MEDICINES.--Now, Nature's medicines--exercise in the open air,
occupation, and household duties--on the contrary, not only at the time
open the bowels, but keep up a proper action for the future; hence their
inestimable superiority. {275}
6. WARM WATER INJECTIONS.--An excellent remedy for costiveness of pregnancy
is an enema, either of warm water, or of Castile soap and water, which the
patient, by means of a self-injecting enema-apparatus, may administer to
herself. The quantity of warm water to be used, is from half a pint to a
pint; the proper heat is the temperature of new milk; the time for
administering it is early in the morning, twice or three times a week.
7. MUSCULAR PAINS OF THE ABDOMEN.--The best remedy is an abdominal belt
constructed for pregnancy, and adjusted with proper straps and buckles to
accomodate the gradually increasing size of the womb. This plan often
affords great comfort and relief; indeed, such a belt is indispensably
necessary.
8. DIARRHOEA.--Although the bowels in pregnancy are generally costive, they
are sometimes in an opposite state, and are relaxed. Now, this relaxation
is frequently owing to there having been prolonged constipation, and Nature
is trying to relieve herself by purging. Do not check it, but allow it to
have its course, and take a little rhubarb or magnesia. The diet should be
simple, plain, and nourishing, and should consist of beef tea, chicken
broth, arrowroot, and of well-made and well-boiled oatmeal gruel. Butcher's
meat, for a few days, should not be eaten; and stimulants of all kinds must
be avoided.
9. FIDGETS.--A pregnant lady sometimes suffers severely from "fidgets"; it
generally affects her feet and legs, especially at night, so as to entirely
destroy her sleep; she cannot lie still; she every few minutes moves,
tosses and tumbles about--first on one side, then on the other. The causes
of "fidgets" are a heated state of the blood; an irritable condition of the
nervous system, prevailing at that particular time; and want of occupation.
The treatment of "fidgets" consists of: sleeping in a well-ventilated
apartment, with either window or door open; a thorough ablution of the
whole body every morning, and a good washing with tepid water of the face,
neck, chest, arms and hands every night; shunning hot and close rooms;
taking plenty of out-door exercise; living on a bland, nourishing, but not
rich diet; avoiding meat at night, and substituting in lieu thereof, either
a cupful of arrow-root made with milk, or of well-boiled oatmeal gruel.
10. EXERCISE.--If a lady, during the night, have the "fidgets," she should
get out of bed; take a short walk up and down the room, being well
protected by a dressing-gown; empty her bladder; turn her pillow, so as to
have {276} the cold side next the head; and then lie down again; and the
chances are that she will now fall asleep. If during the day she have the
"fidgets," a ride in an open carriage; or a stroll in the garden, or in the
fields; or a little housewifery, will do her good, and there is nothing
like fresh air, exercise, and occupation to drive away "the fidgets."
11. HEARTBURN.--Heartburn is a common and often a distressing symptom of
pregnancy. The acid producing the heartburn is frequently much increased by
an overloaded stomach. An abstemious diet ought to be strictly observed.
Great attention should be paid to the quality of the food. Greens, pastry,
hot buttered toast, melted butter, and everything that is rich and gross,
ought to be carefully avoided. Either a teaspoonful of heavy calcined
magnesia, or half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda--the former to be
preferred if there be constipation--should occasionally be taken in a
wine-glassful of warm water. If these do not relieve--the above directions
as to diet having been strictly attended to--the following mixture ought to
be tried. Take of:
Carbonate of Ammonia, half a drachm;
Bicarbonate of Soda, a drachm and a half;
Water, eight ounces;
To make a mixture: Two tablespoonfuls to be taken twice or three times a
day, until relief be obtained.
12. WIND IN THE STOMACH AND BOWELS.--This is a frequent reason why a
pregnant lady cannot sleep at night. The two most frequent causes of
flatulence are, first, the want of walking exercise during the day, and
second, the eating of a hearty meal just before going to bed at night. The
remedies are, of course, in each instance, self-evident.
13. SWOLLEN LEGS FROM ENLARGED VEINS (VARICOSE VEINS.)--The veins are
frequently much enlarged and distended, causing the legs to be greatly
swollen and very painful, preventing the patient from taking proper walking
exercise. Swollen legs are owing to the pressure of the womb upon the
blood-vessels above. Women who have had large families are more liable than
others to varicose veins. If a lady marry late in life, or if she be very
heavy in pregnancy--carrying the child low down--she is more likely to have
distention of the veins. The best plan will be for her to wear during the
day an elastic stocking, which ought to be made on purpose for her, in
order that it may properly fit the leg and foot.
14. STRETCHING OF THE SKIN OF THE ABDOMEN.--This is frequently, in a first
pregnancy, distressing, from the {277} soreness it causes. The best remedy
is to rub the abdomen, every night and morning, with warm camphorated oil,
and to wear a belt during the day and a broad flannel bandage at night,
both of which should be put on moderately but comfortably tight. The belt
must be secured in its situation by means of properly adjusted straps.
15. BEFORE THE APPROACH OF LABOR.--The patient, before the approach of
labor, ought to take particular care to have the bowels gently opened, as
during that state a costive state greatly increases her sufferings, and
lengthens the period of her labor. A gentle action is all that is
necessary; a violent one would do more harm than good.
16. SWOLLEN AND PAINFUL BREASTS.--The breasts are, at times, during
pregnancy, much swollen and very painful and, now and then, they cause the
patient great uneasiness as she fancies that she is going to have either
some dreadful tumor or a gathering of the bosom. There need, in such a
case, be no apprehension. The swelling and the pain are the consequences of
the pregnancy, and will in due time subside without any unpleasant result.
For treatment she cannot do better than rub them well, every night and
morning, with equal parts of Eau de Cologne and olive oil, and wear a piece
of new flannel over them; taking care to cover the nipples with soft linen,
as the friction of the flannel might irritate them.
17. BOWEL COMPLAINTS.--Bowel complaints, during pregnancy, are not
unfrequent. A dose either of rhubarb and magnesia, or of castor oil, are
the best remedies, and are generally, in the way of medicine, all that is
necessary.
17. CRAMPS.--Cramps of the legs and of the thighs during the latter period,
and especially at night, are apt to attend pregnancy, and are caused by the
womb pressing upon the nerves which extend to the lower extremities.
Treatment.--Tightly tie a handkerchief, folded like a neckerchief, round
the limb a little above the part affected, and let it remain on for a few
minutes. Friction by means of the hand either with opodeldoc or with
laudanum, taking care not to drink the lotion by mistake, will also give
relief.
[Illustration: A PRECIOUS FLOWER.]
19. THE WHITES.--The whites during pregnancy, especially during the latter
months, and particularly if the lady have had many children, are frequently
troublesome, and are, in a measure, occasioned by the pressure of the womb
on the parts below, causing irritation. The best way, therefore, to obviate
such pressure is for the patient to lie down a great part of each day
either on a bed or a sofa. She ought to retire early to rest; she should
sleep on a hard {279} mattress and in a well-ventilated apartment, and
should not overload her bed with clothes. A thick, heavy quilt at these
times, and indeed at all times, is particularly objectionable; the
perspiration cannot pass readily through it as through blankets, and thus
she is weakened. She ought to live on plain, wholesome, nourishing food;
and she must abstain from beer and wine and spirits. The bowels ought to be
gently opened by means of a Seidlitz powder, which should occasionally be
taken early in the morning.
20. IRRITATION AND ITCHING OF THE EXTERNAL PARTS.--This a most troublesome
affection, and may occur at any time, but more especially during the latter
period of the pregnancy. Let her diet be simple and nourishing; let her
avoid stimulants of all kinds. Let her take a sitz-bath of warm water,
considerably salted. Let her sit in the bath with the body thoroughly
covered.
21. HOT AND INFLAMED.--The external parts, and the passage to the womb
(vagina), in these cases, are not only irritable and itching, but are
sometimes hot and inflamed, and are covered either with small pimples, or
with a whitish exudation of the nature of aphtha (thrush), somewhat similar
to the thrush on the mouth of an infant; then, the addition of glycerine to
the lotion is a great improvement and usually gives much relief.
22. [3]BILIOUSNESS is defined by some one as piggishness. Generally it may
be regarded as _overfed_. The elements of the bile are in the blood in
excess of the power of the liver to eliminate them. This may be caused
either from the superabundance of the materials from which the bile is made
or by inaction of the organ itself. Being thus retained the system is
_clogged_. It is the result of either too much food in quantity or too rich
in quality. Especially is it caused by the excessive use of _fats and
sweets_. The simplest remedy is the best. A plain, light diet with plenty
of acid fruits, avoiding fats and sweets, will ameliorate or remove it.
Don't force the appetite. Let hunger demand food. In the morning the
sensitiveness of the stomach may be relieved by taking before rising a cup
of hot water, hot milk, hot lemonade, rice or barley water, selecting
according to preference. For this purpose many find coffee made from
browned wheat or corn the best drink. Depend for a time upon liquid food
that can be taken up by absorbents. The juice of lemons and other acid
fruits is usually grateful, and {280} assists in assimilating any excess in
nutriment. These may be diluted according to taste. With many, an egg
lemonade proves relishing and acceptable.
23. DERANGED APPETITE.--Where the appetite fails, let the patient go
without eating for a little while, say for two or three meals. If, however,
the strength begins to go, try the offering of some unexpected delicacy; or
give small quantities of nourishing food, as directed in case of morning
sickness.
24. PILES.--For cases of significance consult a physician. As with
constipation, so with piles, its frequent result, fruit diet, exercise, and
sitz-bath regimen will do much to prevent the trouble. Frequent local
applications of a cold compress, and even of ice, and tepid water
injections, are of great service. Walking or standing aggravate this
complaint. Lying down alleviates it. Dr. Shaw says, "There is nothing in
the world that will produce so great relief in piles as fasting. If the fit
is severe, live a whole day, or even two, if necessary, upon pure soft cold
water alone. Give then very lightly of vegetable food."
25. TOOTHACHE.--There is a sort of proverb that a woman loses one tooth
every time she has a child. Neuralgic toothache during pregnancy is, at any
rate, extremely common, and often has to be endured. It is generally
thought not best to have teeth extracted during pregnancy, as the shock to
the nervous system has sometimes caused miscarriage. To wash out the mouth
morning and night with cold or lukewarm water and salt is often of use. If
the teeth are decayed, consult a good dentist in the early stages of
pregnancy, and have the offending teeth properly dressed. Good dentists, in
the present state of the science, extract very few teeth, but save them.
26. SALIVATION.--Excessive secretion of the saliva has usually been
reckoned substantially incurable. Fasting, cold water treatment, exercise
and fruit diet may be relied on to prevent, cure or alleviate it, where
this is possible, as it frequently is.
27. HEADACHE.--This is, perhaps, almost as common in cases of pregnancy as
"morning sickness." It may be from determination of blood to the head, from
constipation or indigestion, constitutional "sick headache," from
neuralgia, from a cold, from rheumatism. Correct living will prevent much
headache trouble; and where this does not answer the purpose, rubbing and
making magnetic passes over the {281} head by the hand of some healthy
magnetic person will often prove of great service.
28. LIVER-SPOTS.--These, on the face, must probably be endured, as no
trustworthy way of driving them off is known.