Thomsonian practice of midwifery : and treatment of complaints peculiar to women and children / By J.W. Comfort, M.D.

  • Comfort, J. W. (John W.)
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Thomsonian practice of midwifery : and treatment of complaints peculiar to women and children / By J.W. Comfort, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    the womb completely through the external organs, turning it in- side out, and forming a tumour that extended nearly to the knees. The haemorrhage [says the doctor] was enormous, and the pa- tient soon sunk into the most extreme weakness and exhaustion. Half an hour elapsed, before she [the midwife] thought proper to confess her incompetency to manage the case. I was sent for, after she had acknowledged her ignorance of the method of pro- ceeding, and when I arrived, the patient was without pulse— very cold, suffering the most extreme distress, with constant jactitations, and a thirst that was unappeasable. To appearance the woman was in the agonies of death. I found the globe of the womb hanging down full half way to the knees, and still invest- ed with the placenta and membranes, except those parts where they had been torn and broken by the attempts of the midwife to pull the entire mass away. UI attempted to push the whole womb and placenta back into their natural position, but finding I could not succeed, I sent for my venerable friend, Dr. James, who speedily arrived. By his advice, I removed the placenta, but could not force the womb up into the pelvis. In making the attempt to restore it to its place, I followed the method recommended in the books, that is, I compressed the womb in both the hands, in order to reduce its size. At last I observed, that the more I handled it, the harder it became; in short; that I excited in it the after-pains, just as we excite them in the hypogastrium after the child's birth. I therefore inferred that the proper way of proceeding would be to let it rest, and as soon as the relaxation of the organ should be complete, to en- deavour to indent its fundus, like the bottom of a bottle, and then carry it upwards. I found, by observing it, that the womb re- peatedly expanded or relaxed, and then contracted again. Tak- ing, therefore, the moment of the completest relaxation, I indent- ed the fundus with one finger, and as it became metre and more concave. I applied each of the fingers in succession, till I found its further progress was impeded by the os uteri, which, though it was completely inverted, yet resisted, for some time, the at- tempt at reposition. By a resolute perseverance I finally had the pleasure to overcome the resistance,, and the peritoneal sur~ Z
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