A treatise on the theory and practice of obstetrics.

  • William Heath Byford
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the theory and practice of obstetrics. 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 PELVIS. * bo a> to Lessen the bilateral diameter half an inch, and when the woman Btands upon her feet their bodies are firm enough to modify the position in which the head enters the pelvis. When pR1 ft -flic (lotted lines in this figure are intended to show the relation in the axes of the superior and inferior straits to the pelvic and perineal cun. - in a recumbent posture, with the thighs well flexed upon the body the bodies of these muscles arc relaxed and quite yielding, [jpon the Left side of the sacrum the rectum enters the top of the pelvis and after fairly gaining the cavity tin- intestine assumes the central position in the hollow of the sacrum. When the rectum is empty and collapsed, it does uot materially affect the oblique diameter; bul if filled with feces, the diameter from the Left ilio-sacral junction will be shortened from three-quarters 0f an inch to an inch and a half. The reader will Bee that this leaves the diameter reaching from the right ilio-sacral junction the longest diameter I the superior Btrait I think this will account for the more frequent entrance of the head with its long diameter in that direction.
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