The principles and practice of midwifery : with some of the diseases of women.

  • Milne, Alexander
Date:
1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles and practice of midwifery : with some of the diseases of women. 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.

    45/680 (page 13)
    spinal column, according as the female is pregnant or not, always stand in the same relation to each other. From this the important result follows, that the axis of the planes of the pelvis are fixed, and the passage of the foetal head, under ordinary circumstances, must also be the same. 20. Difference between the Male and Female Pelvis.—The accoucheur, if he did not otherwise know, would very soon and readily pronounce that the male was not a child-bearing person, just from an exa- mination of his pelvis. It is not adapted for the great function, being “ cribbed and confined.” In the male pelvis the sacrum has not such a depth of concavity; it approaches more to the perpendicular; the coccyx is less fiexible, and the tuberosities of the iscliium approach nearer each other. The depth of the sym- physis pubis is much greater, the puiiic arch is less wide, its angle being about 75°; and the sacro-sciatic notches and foramina are much smaller. The brim of the pelvis approaches more to the circular sha^ie, and its cavity is deeper. 21. Soft Parts of the Pelvis.—In the iliac fossa is the internal iliac muscle, and internal to it is the psoas muscle. Near the inner border of this latter muscle are the iliac artery and vein, and the crural nerves and lymphatics. In the cavity of the pelvis are the obtu- rator internus muscle, and the pyramidalis, theluemor- rlioidal and sacral ve.ssels, and the sacral nerves. Tlien behind is the rectum, and in front, the bladder. The lower strait or outlet is nearly clo.sed in by the fol- lowmg structures :—Sacro-sciatic ligament, coccygeus muscle, fascia, and cellular membrane. The ])clvis thus contains a good deal of material; but .so skili'ul a packer is Nature, that it is found that the diameters of the pelvis are but little diminished thereby ; only, in fact, from ] to 1, in. Of course, com- pression during labour diminishes their bulk too. 22. External Measurements of the Pelvis.—A