PHYSICAL HINDRANCES.
There are various mechanical inconveniences connected with this state. In the earlier months more particularly, there is pressure upon the rectum, causing a tendency to constipation. This should be guarded against, not by “the due administration of mild laxative medicines,” for that only tends to make matters worse in the end, but by the use of proper food, such as cracked wheat or rye, brown or unbolted bread, Indian mush, well boiled, and good fruits and vegetables, in their season. Exercise, employment, daily bathing, and clysters, tepid or cold, according to the season, and the patient’s strength, should all be brought to bear in the case.
Pressure upon the urethra, or neck of the bladder, is also one of the mechanical evils of pregnancy, rendering the evacuation of urine difficult, and sometimes painful. To prevent this, the patient should be exceedingly careful to evacuate the bladder frequently, and never to allow the calls of nature to go unanswered; nor should she stand or walk too much at a time, as this is calculated, in a powerful manner, to increase the difficulty. The same may be said in regard to the feeling of weight which is experienced in the loins during the early part of the period; and in reference to all these mechanical evils of pregnancy, I remark that it is of great service for the patient to recline, for a short period, a number of times a day. If she is of active disposition and habits she may not feel inclined to do so; yet she will find the practice a good one, and productive of much comparative comfort.
If the abdomen becomes too pendulous, as it sometimes does, owing to the flaccidity of the abdominal parietes, a considerable degree of relief may be obtained from stays of a proper construction. These, however, should be so fashioned and arranged as not to overheat the parts, otherwise they will be made weaker, and thus more harm than good will be the result. The wet girdle, suitably applied, is an excellent appliance. Nor should any of these helps be used too much of the time.