A letter to William Smellie, M.D., containing critical and practical remarks upon his Treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery / By John Burton, M.D. Wherein the various gross mistakes and dangerous methods of practice mentioned and recommended by that writer, are fully demonstrated. And generally corrected.

  • Burton, John, 1710-1771.
Date:
MDCCLIII. [1753]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to William Smellie, M.D., containing critical and practical remarks upon his Treatise on the theory and practice of midwifery / By John Burton, M.D. Wherein the various gross mistakes and dangerous methods of practice mentioned and recommended by that writer, are fully demonstrated. And generally corrected. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    233/274 (page 217)
    [ 21? ] fo mucl) as afterwards •, becaufe in the firft Cafe the Sinufes may not be fo much extended, and confe- quently not have fo much Blood therein as in future Pregnancies. Having how examined your Methods of Practice in many Cafes, and having, I hope demonftrated to the Reader’s Satisfadlion, that there are others rnuch pre¬ ferable to thofe followed by you ; 1 here beg leave to recapitulate in a fummary way, fuch Cafes in parti¬ cular, wherein I make ufe of the Extrador invented by myfelf •, and compare my Method of Pradice with yours in the fame Cafes, that the Reader may, at one View, fee which is the ealieft, fafeil, and mod expeditious, both for the patient and Ope¬ rator. The Rcafons at large, pro and con, may be feen according to the Parts in this Book referred to. Firft Cafe, When the Child prefents with its Plead, and can neither be delivered when turned, nor extraded whole, whether alive or dead, its Head mud be open’d. and the Bulk thereof lelfened, Mother’s Life and Welfar as follows, Sed:. 21, id. That an Aflidant prefs upon the Belly of the Patient, to keep the Child’s Head deady. 2dly, You dired the Operator to introduce his Hand and prefs two Fin- j^crs againd one of the Su- cures of the Cranium. 3dly, To take his Scif- fars, and guiding them by the Hand and Fingers till they reach the hairy Scalp of the Child, pufh them into it. But if the Head flips afide^ in fuch a man¬ ner for the Security of the In this Cafe you order In the fame Cafe,Sed. 2 2 • id, lintroduceoneHand (fuppofe the Left) to reach the Child’s Head, which I grafp therein, and with a Thumb or Finger fearch for the fagittal Suture, which I hold in tlie Cent- ter of the Padage. 2dly, With the other Hand I take my Extrador and gently Aide the upper End of the Capfula along the Hand that is within the Vagina, till it reaches the above-named Suture into