The obstetrician's vademecum; or aphorisms on natural and difficult parturition; the application and use of instruments in preternatural labours; on labours complicated with hemorrhage, convulsions, etc / Considerably Augmented and arranged according to the present state of obstetricy, by Michael Ryan.
- Thomas Denman
- Date:
- 1836
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The obstetrician's vademecum; or aphorisms on natural and difficult parturition; the application and use of instruments in preternatural labours; on labours complicated with hemorrhage, convulsions, etc / Considerably Augmented and arranged according to the present state of obstetricy, by Michael Ryan. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Crass II. Dystocia.—DIFFICULT LABOUR. [Laborious, mechanical, or artificial labour, &c.] CHARACTER. Every labour in which the process is prolonged beyond twenty-four hours, the head of the child presenting. [Dystocia, is defined difficult or preter-natural labour, when some other part besides the crown of the head presents. M. R.] Note. Some objections may be made to this definition taken from time, but it will be found to apply to practical uses better than if it was taken from circumstances. [The term dystocia, employed by Hippocrates, Sauvages, Merriman, Desormeaux, Velpeau, my- self, and others, comprises all those cases that require the resources of art, and is now considered a generic term. It is better to base on nature those causes which render labour difficult, as Merriman and Desormeaux have done, as this arrangement presents incontestable advantages. Others who have not adopted it, lead to great confusion: thus they place hemorrhage among different orders, as preter-natural, laborious, com- plex, mechanical, manual, mixed, &c. M. R.] It would often be extremely difficult to say with precision when a labour actually begins, because of the number of concurrent changes. But in general some progress must be made, before we can allow a labour to be commenced.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b3328653x_0077.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
