The hygiene of pregnancy / third annual address of the President, Samuel C. Busey.

  • Busey, Samuel Clagett, 1828-1901.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The hygiene of pregnancy / third annual address of the President, Samuel C. Busey. 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.

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    1.:; duo to functional or mechanical conditions. If, then, these phenomena are physiological 'in the pregnant female, and pathological in the non-pregnant,- and in each instance stand in like etiological relation to albuminuria, must the appearance of albumin in the urine differentiate an abnormal from a normal pregnancy ? Experience tells us that in many cases of preg- nancy very large quantities of albumin appear in the urine . without the occurrence of any serious complication, and that it usually disappears after delivery, and sometimes after the death of tiie fetus in utero. It may be physiological in a few, functional in many more; but v^e must in the future, as in the past, continue to regard it as pathological in the majority of -cases, and as a danger signal of the gravest importance. With this ensejnUe of physiological conditions and patho- logical possibilities, do you marvel that some pregnant women get sick and a number die ? It is no answer to tell me that the ailments and mortality of pregnancy are incidents of edu- cation and civilization. If so, the most effective method of hygiene would be the relegation of every pregnant woman to besotted ignorance, barbarism, and beastliness—a remedy more revolting • even than You-doo medicine, which traces cause and effect, and disease and recovery to stupid, disgust- ing and criminal superstitions. In view of the facts that among civilized people the average lifetime is greater, the mortality of tho ]yii)g-in is less, and more women live out the allotted life-time now than during any previous period of medical his- tory, I repudiate any analogy derived from the customs, habits, practices, and their results among nomadic, aboriginal, and barbaric races and peoples. With the progressive im- provements in the conduct and management of the pregnant and puerperal states, the expectancy of life and longevity of the post-cessation life have increased. The hygiene of pregnancy demands an acuteness and accu- racy of din gnosis not always or easily acquired. The physi- ological so frequently approaches the pathological that differ- entiation of disease is involved in embarrassing obscurity. The insidious beginning of morbid processes is often so illy-defined, and the consequences of delay are so disastrous that the ac- coucheur cannot afford to abide the issue of complete develop- anent when the diagnosis is plainly written in the picture of a
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