Observations on diseased states of the placenta as influencing the process of parturition / by John Bremner.
- Bremner, John (Writer on business networks)
- Date:
- 1849
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on diseased states of the placenta as influencing the process of parturition / by John Bremner. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![to the decree of decomposition it had undergone. Sometimes, as in the case of Mrs T., it appears to be diminished in size and weight, as well as more compact than usual. I ]iave been in the habit for several years of attaching greater importance to the state of the blood-vessels and coverings than to that of the placental mass, and been able, if I mistake not, in many instances, to trace by means of the appearance they pre¬ sented, the influence of the poison over both the labour and foetus, better than could have been done by an appeal to it ; whereas, had I not chanced to become acquainted with the delay in ques¬ tion, I should have imagined the whole, as formerly, to be mat¬ ters of course. Treatment—Seeing that all prospect of effecting the cure of this affection is hopeless, the most useful measures to be pursued will be found to be those of a prophylactic and palliative nature. The 'first class will comprehend, the avoiding, as far as possible, all exciting causes, with attention to the state of the circulation during the seventh and eighth months of pregnancy; whilst the use of the lancet, if indicated, the exhibition of opiates, attention to the bowels, and gentle cordials, will be found more or less ser¬ viceable, where it may be suspected to have occurred, till labour arrives. In cases where a fixed pain proved very distressing in some part of the abdomen, I have witnessed the best effects from an opiate plaster. Should the view of the question presented to the consideration of the profession in the preceding pages be found substantiated by future observation, it is presumed that through such a medium several circumstances possessing a certain degree of interest may perhaps receive a more satisfactory explanation than hitherto they have done,—amongst which the following may be ranked as spe¬ cimens. ls£, The vulgar opinion that labour is rendered more difficult when the death of the foetus takes place in utero, seems with greater justice referable to that of the placenta than the child. 2^, It will be observed that in a good many, I think I may safely add, the greater number, of the cases quoted, the action of the uterus, laying aside its inefficient nature, was trivial and in¬ dolent in the extreme, as in Mrs C., No. 1, &c.; and it is a well- established fact, that for many years this is the description which has been regarded by the best obstetric writers, as the most pro¬ per for the administration of the Secale Cornutum, a medicine which, though latterly fallen somewhat into disuse, has frequently been productive of the happiest results. It has, however, unfortunately happened, that whilst its virtues, as a remedy in stirring up a more energetic state of the uterus, have been fully admitted and appreciated, it has, on the other hand, been found no less true that, upon the termination of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30560159_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
