If it has been experienced in former pregnancies, it is invaluable, for I believe it is not to be mistaken. If it is a first pregnancy and doubtful, it removes all obscurity, provided the sensation grows stronger and stronger, until the movements of the child are distinctly felt.
Four only of the symptoms of pregnancy have been noticed, because the remainder are not recognisable, except by the accoucheur, although to him of the greatest value when pregnancy is complicated and doubtful from the presence of disease.
The nature of these symptoms has been described as plainly, and yet as briefly, as possible, because of the importance of their being clearly understood by married women.
I have also endeavored to point out their real value as evidence of pregnancy—how they are sometimes absent in patients who are pregnant, and some of them present in those who are not so—because of the doubt and obscurity which arise from these variations.
And lastly, in bringing these observations to a conclusion, I venture to say, that if the married female will only take the trouble to make herself familiar with this little detail, she will not regret the time as lost or misspent, because it will generally guide her aright, and I trust save her many moments of anxiety and discomfort.
ON THE
DISEASES OF PREGNANCY,
AND HINTS FOR THEIR
PREVENTION AND RELIEF.
In describing the diseases which are incident to the whole period of pregnancy, my design is to take a general popular survey of the subject. I wish simply to communicate that kind of information, which every married and well-educated woman should certainly possess, and can usefully employ. To advance further than this, to those points upon which the assistance of the medical adviser ought to be sought, would be on every account improper, and productive rather of evil than of good.
There is no organ in the body, with the exception of the stomach, that exercises a more extensive control over the female system than the womb. Hence, when in the condition of pregnancy, it affects, directly or indirectly, various parts of that system. The effects of pregnancy, however, vary much according to the constitution of the female.
Sometimes a very salutary change is produced, so that the individual enjoys better health during gestation than before. The delicate and frequent-ailing girl, for instance,—the propriety of whose marrying was a matter of doubt among her friends—becoming pregnant, instead of realizing the apprehensions and fears of those most dear to her, will sometimes acquire new life and vigor from the altered circumstances of her condition. On the other hand, speaking generally, it is sometimes the case that harassing and painful symptoms will arise. These are designated the “diseases of pregnancy.”