RETENTION OF URINE.
Occasionally an infant will not pass any urine for many hours after its birth. This most frequently arises from the fact of none being secreted. In the last case of this kind that I was called to, three days had elapsed since birth, and no urine had been passed; it proved that none had been secreted. Sometimes, however, it is the effect of another cause, which the use of the warm bath will be found to remove, which should always therefore be employed four and twenty hours after the birth of the infant, if it has not by that time passed any water.
It now and then happens, but fortunately very rarely, that some physical obstruction exists. It is always important, therefore, for the nurse to pay attention to the above point; and it is her duty to direct the attention of the medical man to the subject, if anything unusual or unnatural be present. The same observation applies to the bowel also; and if twelve hours pass without any motion, the parts should be examined.