Every woman can not attain to as perfect health as Mrs. Stanton, for all have not as good conditions of heredity, nor did all learn early that “A girl is as good as a boy.” Mothers in earnest for the best good of their children, will by constant purpose and deliberate effort, approximate the high standard she established, and emulate her example in using the means to enhance desired results.
“For life is not to live, but to be well.”
CHAPTER XIII.
PARTURITION.
The hour arrives, the moment wished and feared;
The child is born by many a pang endured!
And now the mother’s ear has caught his cry;
Oh! grant the cherub to her asking eye!
Labor is effected by dilatation of the cervix uteri and contraction of the uterine and abdominal muscles. This dilatation is the first stage. In the second, expulsive efforts occur, causing the advance and birth of the child. The action of the uterus in expelling the fetus is analagous to that of the rectum in expelling its contents. In each case the abdominal muscles powerfully co-operate with the peristaltic action of the organ. Uterine contractions, once established, continue intermittently until the contents are expelled. These contractions are usually attended and recognized by pain. They are called labor pains.
It is well established by physiologists that the suffering attendant upon labor is abnormal, and only a result of the violation of nature’s laws; that by a more or less thorough compliance with those laws, most women can approximate to a condition in which there shall be no suffering in childbirth.
A few days preceding labor, there is usually a muco-sanguineous discharge from the vagina. This is called the show. It indicates dilatation of the cervix and relaxation of the vagina. It is often accompanied by malaise and restlessness, and in some by headache and loss of appetite.