Complications of pregnancy / by Edward P. Davis.

  • Edward P. Davis
Date:
1931
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Complications of pregnancy / by Edward P. Davis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/400 page 1
    COMPLICATIONS OF PREGNANCY CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Description of noimal pregnancy Circulation of the blood and respiration—The compo¬ sition of the biood Digestion Excretion—Metabolism—The nervous system—Duration of pregnancy. Normal Pregnancy.—Before one attempts to appreciate the reac¬ tion of the pregnant woman to the complications of pregnancy, it may be well to review the essential features of the condition of pregnancy under normal circumstances. It is a familiar observation that the occurrence of pregnancy affects woman profoundly. Mechanically, physiologically and functionally, the ordinary conditions of life are changed. When, in addition, a compli¬ cation arises, the reaction of the pregnant woman to such complication often differs from the reaction that would take place were she not pregnant. We may first consider the mechanical element and how this may affect a complication arising during pregnancy. As the uterus and its contents grow, they must interfere with the circulation of blood and of lymph in the pelvis and the abdomen. Pressure upon the intestine interferes with peristalsis and may bring about a paretic condition favor¬ able to the development of intestinal infection. Pressure upon the ureters may cause an accumulation of urine in the pelves of the kidneys. Pressure upon nerve trunks may not only cause pain but may produce actual changes in the anatomical condition of the nerve. As the pelvic joints are softened and often made mobile during pregnancy, the func¬ tions of the pelvis are altered and unusual strain is brought upon various portions of the skeleton. From the standpoint of mechanics, apart from other considerations, pregnancy in itself is a complication—and an important one. The Organs of Circulation and Respiration.—Essential alterations were formerly supposed to take place in the size and structure of the heart, in the blood-vessels and in the lungs. The organs of circulation and respiration may appropriately be considered together in studying pregnancy. It is not now believed that there is essential change in the size of the heart, nor in the tissues of the lungs, unless mechanical pres¬ sure causes congestion. The quantity of blood is increased one twelfth,
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