8,9,10,11. Ballottement, fluctuation, kiesteine in the urine, and the sounds of the foetal heart, are signs requiring the skill of a medical man for detection. The last not only conclusively proves pregnancy, but laos that the child is alive.
Other symptoms and conditions which may occur are- salivation, neuralgia of the face, head, or breast, irritability or temper, melancholy, and other nervous complaints; some suffer from one special disorder-Piles, for instance-when pregnant, and at no other time. But none of these ailments, though very common in consequence of artificial habits, the use of drugs, constitutional disease or accidental causes, are essential concomitants of pregnancy, and are to be regarded more as incidental disorders than symptoms of that condition.
These departures from health are subsequently described and directions and prescriptions for their prevention and removal will be found under each disorder.
XXIII. Hygiene during Pregnancy.
DIET. The should be simple, nutritious, and easy of digestion; it should be thoroughly masticated, and but little fluid should be drunk at meal-timed. Plainly-cooked animal food, once a day, well boiled vegetables, ripe fruits, and such articles as rice, tapioca, or arrowroot, if taken in moderation, will rarely disagree with the stomach. Pastry, smoked hams, salted or spiced meets generally, rich sauces, and every article that has been known to occasion indigestion, as well as those substances which have a tendency to produce a costive of the bowels, should be avoided, and brown bread, if it agrees with the patient, should be eaten in preference to white. Late suppers are inadmissible. Stimulating drinks, wines, ardent spirits, ale, porter, strong tea and coffee, are generally hurtful both to the mother and the foetus. In a word, the diet should be whole-some and digestible, and if it has been so previously, no change whatever is necessary. For it is an error to suppose that ladies require more nourishment during pregnancy than at other times, and large quantities of rich food taken in the belief that it will contributed to the sustenance of the child, cannot but be productive of baneful consequences.
DRESS. It would seem scarcely necessary to make any remarks upon thee dress to be worn during pregnancy, were it not that some females, considerably advanced in it, often lace tightly for the sake of attending public entertainments, or of diverting notice from their condition. At no time should stays be worm, for the simple reason that they are never required. But they should especially be avoided during pregnancy, since a continual and forcible compression of the abdomen while nature is at work to secure its gradual enlargement, in order to accommodate the growth of the foetus, must be attended with serious injury to the health of both mother and child. During gestation the uterus increase on an average from two to fourteen inches in diameter. It must be obvious, then, how vain, as well as criminal, must be every effort to contract it. The human body, like all other works of the Creator, is made perfect’ therefore no sensible woman will shut her eyes to the fact that no part of thee system can be unnaturally compressed or altered in shape without affecting the harmony of the whole. IF the circulation of the blood in the abdominal organs be constricted, congestion is the consequence: on the one hand, indigestion, disease of the liver, constipation, piles, painful menstruation, Leucorrhoea, and ovarian disease follow; on the other-above the seat of constriction-palpitation, difficult breathing, spitting of blood, persistent cough, chronic headache, etc.; moreover, the veins of the legs enlarge, the extremities swell, and the child is apt to be deformed; and finally, if the mother escape these self-created perils, it may be questioned whether compressed breasts and nipples, with then tendency to inflammation, soreness, and consequent train of inconveniences, can afford the requisite ailment for the off spring.
Dress should be arranged as to material and quantity, with the view to comfort and to the season. There must be no pressure on any part; even the garters should be loosely worn. The feet and abdomen should be kept warm, since continued coldness of these parts predisposes to colic, headache, and Miscarriage.
EXERCISE. Exercise is a most important means of retaining good health during gestation, of securing a natural delivery, and of favouring the health of the infant. The most useful kind is walking in the open air; for this calls into action more of the muscles of the body than does any other suited to this condition. Such exercise should, if possible, be taken chiefly before dinner, and be of such a character as to interest the mind as well as to strengthen the body. This will operate most favourably as a preventive of a host of morbid feelings which are apt to attend this state. Care must, however, be taken to avoid a degree of exercise which will induce positive fatigue; such as too long walks, going out in slippery weather, dancing, lifting heavy weights, and all kinds of violent motion. The passive exercise of riding in a carriage falls short of the object in view; and, on the other hand, riding on horseback exceeds it, whilst the danger of fright and accident, to which it expose the incipient mother, is better avoided. In wet weather, or when it is impracticable to walk out, she should select a large and well- ventilated room, so that the air she breathes may be pure. I will plain from the tenor of these general remarks, that lassitude and languor should be striven against and overcome. On this account the pernicious habit of sleeping after dinner should not be contracted. Too little sleep is a less evil than too much. And hence, female who pass the interval, or a good part of it between dinner and tea, on the couch or the bed, generally suffer from debility and proneness to disease.
GENERAL HINTS. Theatres, balls, or exciting public meetings should not be attended; early habits should be formed; all excessive mental emotions, as grief, despondency, anger, etc., are to guarded against; a cold or tepid bath, followed by vigorous friction, should be taken daily; and the mind should be kept tranquil, remembering that parturition is not necessarily attended by great suffering or danger, these being, in most instances, the penalty incurred by disregarding the hints suggested in this Section.
XXIV. Morning-Sickness.
SYMPTOMS. The first intimation of it generally occurs on rising from bed. Before getting up the patient may feel as well as usual, but while dressing will be overtaken by nausea, followed by retching, and perhaps by vomiting before leaving the room; or it may not occur until some little time after leaving the apartment, or not till after breakfast, which may be eaten with zest. In this case there will probably be no return of the symptoms till the following day. In some cases, however, sickness is not felt till evening, when it may be simple nausea, or vomiting may occur; in others, sickness may be present all day. The sickness may begin almost immediately after conception, but more frequently it does not commence until after the lapse of several weeks, and then continues more or less constantly and severely for three or four weeks, and in some instances till near the time of quickening, or even until confinement. In some rare instances it does not occur before the last weeks of pregnancy, and is then apt to be severe; in others cases it is altogether absent during the whole period of gestation.
CAUSE. Exaltation of the nerve-force of digestion, to furnish material for enlarged growth, carried to so high a degree as to disturb the equilibrium of the digestive and assimilative forces. It is most common among the wealthy and inactive.
TREATMENT. Nux Vomica. Vomiting, with vertigo, restlessness, and irritability; acid and bitter risings, hiccough, sense of weight at the pit of the stomach, waterbrash, constipation. When this remedy is indicated, it often affords striking and immediate relief, and carried the patient through the remaining term of pregnancy with comparative comfort.
Ipecacuanha. Uneasiness about the stomach; continuous nausea and retching; vomiting of fluids and undigested food, or of bile; relaxed bowels. It is generally sufficient in mild cases; in chronic cases it may be alternated with Sepia.
Kreasotum. A most valuable medicine for persistent morning- sickness, and one which seldom fails.
Tabacum. Continued sick feeling all day without vomiting.
Arsenicum. Vomiting, with great weakness, and attacks of fainting.
Pulsatilla. Symptoms similar to Nux V., but with tendency to relaxation.
ACCESSORY MEANS. The diet should be regulated, and, if necessary, a change made in the times of eating to those hours when the stomach is least likely to be affected. Cold or cool food will sometimes be retained when hot is rejected.
In some cases two or three teaspoonfuls of beef-tea, or soda-water and milk, should be taken frequently; or, when these cannot be borne, small pieces of ice may be sucked. In extreme cases, it may be necessary to give up the attempt of feeding by the mouth, and to depend upon injections by the rectum for a day or two. Several cases have been recorded in which raw beef has retained after every other kind of food has been rejected. Instead of mincing, it is preferable in point of palatableness and digestibility to prepare the beef as follows: a small block of the steak is scraped with a silver spoon till all the is extracted, a new surface is cut, and the operation repeated. The pulp may then be mixed with red currant jelly, or eaten as a sandwich, with salt and pepper. Meat in this form has been found highly beneficial in Diarrhoea, Consumption, or debility form any cause.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."