Volume 1

A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / by W.S. Playfair.

  • William Smoult Playfair
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery / by W.S. Playfair. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    49/488 (page 21)
    than in Eui'opean women, but it is not sufficiently marked to enable us to refer any given pelvis to a particular race. Von Franque makes the general observation that the size of the pelvis increases from south to north, but that the con- jugate (c. v) diameter increases in proportion to the trans- verse (t) in southern races. In closing the description of the pelvis, the attention of Soft parts the student must be directed to the muscular and other connec- , . , . T- , tion witn structures which cover ]t. It has already been pointed out pelvis. that the measurements of the pelvic diameters are consider- ably lessened by the soft parts, which also influence partu- rition in other ways. Thus attached to the crests of the ilia are strong muscles which not only support the enlarged uterus during pregnancy, but are powerful accessory muscles in labour : in the pelvic cavity are the obturator and pyri- formis muscles lining it on either side; the pelvic cellular tissue and fasciee; the rectum and bladder; the vessels and nerves, pressure on which often gives rise to cramps and pains during pregnancy and labour; while below the outlet of the pelvis is closed, and its axis directed forwards by the numerous muscles forming the floor of the pelvis and peri- The pelvic nffium. The structures closing the pelvis have been accu- rately described by Berry Hart,» who points out that they form a complete diaphragm stretching from the pubis to the sacrum, in which are three ' faults' or ' slits' formed by the orifices of the urethra, vagina, and rectum. The first of these is a mere capillary slit, the last is closed by a strong muscular sphincter, while the vagina, in a healthy condition, is also a mere slit, with its walls in accurate apposition. Hence it follows that none of these apertures impairs the structural efficiency of the pelvic floor, or the support it gives to the structures above it. ' Tlie Structural Anatomtj of the Female Pelvic Floor.