Dr. Conquest's outlines of midwifery : intended as a text-book for students, and a book of reference for junior practitioners.

Conquest, Dr.

Date:: 1854

Credit: Dr. Conquest's outlines of midwifery : intended as a text-book for students, and a book of reference for junior practitioners. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$The third, by large doses of camphor combined henbane, or some other narcotic. \_Piierperal mania must not be confounded with the temporary delirium which supervenes during a painful labour, nor with that which, not unfrer[uently, accompanies the most fatal kind of puerperal fever. The maniacal form of puerperal insanity rarely oc- curs before tlie third, or subsequent to the fourteenth, day after deliverj^ It may come on suddenly, but its accession is often marked ])y premonitory symp- toms. The earliest indications are restlessness, an anxious expression, peevishness, slight iiicoherence, and extreme talkativeness. Sometimes there is an opposite condition in whicli the patient is taciturn and listless. As the disease advances, all the symp- toms become aggravated, and the patient's mind is occupied witli various delusions. She often expresses a hatred towards her husband or child, and fre- quently utters oaths and obscene language. A ten- dency to suicide is very common ; and the persistence of extreme watchfulness is often one of the most inveterate symptoms. Sleeplessness will often con- tinue for nights together, and resist the influence of t the most powerful narcotics. Hereditary tendency is tlie most fi-equent predis- posing cause of puer^ieral mania. Out of 111 cases occurring at Bethlehem Hospital, 45 were here- t ditary. Under proper treatment, the disease is generally remediable. Fatal cases, however, occasionally oc- i cur. When the complaint terminates fatally, death j$