Obstetric aphorisms: for the use of students commencing midwifery practice.

  • Swayne, Joseph Griffiths.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Obstetric aphorisms: for the use of students commencing midwifery practice. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    pains regular though slight, how ever trifling may be the dilatation of the os uteri, I am exceedingly shy of leaving my patient. c. If the pains have ceased in consequence of the patient's nervousness at your sudden appearance, you wiU, by waiting au hour, have allowed ample time for the effects of this feeling to wear off. Prognosis. 15. After the examinatiou lias been made, the patient will pi-obably ask whether all is riglit] and how long it will be before the labour is over ? The first of these questions may be answered in the alELrma- tive, if the head presents and the passages are in proper condition (see 10); but to the second you can only reply that it is impossible to tell with certainty, because the duration of the labour will depend upon the strength and frequency of the jsains, and other circumstances which are beyond calculation. Any attempt to foretell the exact duration, especially of a first labour, would be very likely to end in the exposure of the false pro2)het, and in the disappointment of the patient. Progress. 16. When the presentation has been made out, the progress of the labom- is to be ascertained by subse- quent examinations, but the fewer that are made for this purpose, during the first stage, the better. Frequent examinations during the first stage cause much discomfort, and tend to render the parts dry and irritable. It is difficult to lay down any precise rule as to the fre- quency of examinations ; they should in general be made more