The induction of premature labor and accouchement forcé in the first 5000 labors in the Obstetrical Department of the Johns Hopkins Hospital / by J. Whitridge Williams.

  • John Whitridge Williams
Date:
[1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The induction of premature labor and accouchement forcé in the first 5000 labors in the Obstetrical Department of the Johns Hopkins Hospital / by J. Whitridge Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    20/20 page 18
    Personally 1 believe, whenever serious danger to mother or child supervenes during the course of labor, that dila- tation of (lie cervix can usually be completed safely and satisfactorily either by the use of the bag or Harris’ method; the former if dilatation is only slight, and the latter if it is more advanced. At the same time it should be stated that neither of these procedures is absolutely devoid of danger, as the cervix was deeply torn in six out of thirty-one cases in which Harris’ method was employed, while one required immediate repair to check profuse hemorrhage. This point should be strongly emphasized, as there is a tendency upon the part of many practitioners to interfere upon the slightest indica- tion, and every year I see a number of women in con- sultation or hospital practice who have been seriously lacerated or profoundly infected by accouchement force which had been undertaken merely to hasten the com- pletion of labor, in the absence of a definite indication. Therefore, I hold that, in this group of cases, the operation should be resorted to only under the strictest indications, when the life of the mother or child is seriously jeopardized, and then only with the greatest care and slowness.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3