Volume 1

The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick.

  • M'Gregor-Robertson, J. (Joseph), 1858-1925
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    562/602 (page 490)
    EXERCISE, &c., DUEIXG PREGNANCY. [Sect. XVII. a craving for certain articles, and provided they belong to the nourishing class of foods, the yielding to the craving in moderation is not to be denied; but in a few cases the craving is for unwholesome and nauseous substances. This is to be considered as morbid, and outrht to be held in restraint not only by the person herself, but also by all who surround her. Stimulants are neither necessary nor desirable in ordinary circumstances. It is not denied that they are often useful and perhaps also necessary, but the usefulness and necessity ought to be judged of by the medical attendant and not by the patient herself or her friends. In the later months a bandage, broad in fi’ont and narrow behind, if properly fitted so as to support the womb without compressing it, will give much comfort. It should be put on while the person lies in bed on her back, and should be removed at night. Clothing should be carefully adapted to the varying condition of the person, and should never be at any part tight fitting. Enough has already been said on the subject of coi'sets (p. 473), but in the pregnant condition their evils are much increased. “ The Romans were so well awai'e of the mischief caused by com- pression of the waist during gestation, that they enacted a positive law against it; and Lycurgus, with the same view, is said to have ordained a law compelling pregnant women to wear very wide and loose clothing.” Exercise.—During the early months of preg- nancy there is difficulty in taking walking exer- cise, because the womb sinks down lower than usual on account of its increased weight, and makes walking attended with discomfort if not actual pain. When the womb has risen up- wards, owing to its requiring more space, this difficulty becomes less, and thus during the middle months of the nine, exercise is more pleasant and less fatiguing. Towards the end of pregnancy it becomes increasingly difficult because of the size and weight, and also because the joints become more lax in preparation for the period of delivery. Gentle, regular, and moderate exercise, obtained by walking, should, however, be per-sisted in throughout the whole period, never, however, so as to cause jiain. The patient must not allow her inclination to ije completely at rest so to overcome her as to prevent her obtaining the slight change and beneficial stimulus, which a short period in the open air will secure to her. In particular the desire to avoid the public gaze ouglit not to keep the person completely indoors for the last month or two of pregnancy as it too often prac- tically does. Gentle carriage exercise need not be forbidden, but jolting over rough roads is plainly likely to be injurious. Lengthened shopping expeditions and such like are too fre- quently the cause of miscarriage during the early months as well as during the later months. While more rest is needed than in the non-pregnant ^ate, an increased amount of rest ought not to be j)ermitted to lead on to idle, lazy, and indolent habits. Bathing.—Baths should be taken in modera- tion, extremes of heat and cold being carefully avoided. The Breasts require some attention. Pain, sw^elling, and tenderness of the brejists are among the early signs of pregnancy, as w’e have seen, and require no special attention. But if the breasts are small and ill-developed, and the nii:>ples pressed in as they may be by the pres- sure of stays, trouble after delivery may be saved by drawing them out with the aid of a breast-pump, or the ordinary breast-exhauster (Plate VIII.). Should the nipples be tender the best means of toughening them is by the use of the tannin and glycerine of the chemists. The use of alum and whisky is too apt to make them liard with a tendency to crack. Medicine. — It is a matter of the greatest moment, for the comfort of the patient, that daily movement of the bowels be obtained. This ought if jjossible to be secured by diet— the use of oatmeal, fruits like figs, prunes, stew'ed apples, &c. Sometimes medicine is needed, and many take a dose of castor-oil at regular intervals. It is comparatively safe, though nauseous, but it often occasions “false pains” near the termination of the pregnancy. The writer is in the habit of recommending not castor-oil but Hunyadi Janos mineral water. If there is any doubt at all of obtaining daily an easy and sufficient movement of the bowels, he advises the mineral w^ater to be taken each morning before breakfast, in the quantity the patient finds suits her, and it ought to secure a gentle motion wdthout purging after the lapse of an hour or two. The avei'age quantity is a claret glassful, but the patient shonld begin wdth a small wdne-glassful and go up, if necessary, till the suitable quantity is found. It should be then regularly taken. It is a sini])le remedy, ])ractically incapable of doing harm, and its use he has found, over and over again, to conduce greatly to the health and comfort of the ])atient. No other medicines should be employed wdth- out proper advice.