Getting ready to be a mother

by Carolyn Conant Van Blarcom

There is little doubt that the most critical period in one’s life is the first ten months—the nine months before birth and the first month afterward—and that the care which is given during these months influences one’s physical state, for good or ill, throughout all the rest of life. In the light of this knowledge, women are more and more generally seeking and being given “prenatal care,” which is care before the baby is born, together with advice and instructions which fit them to assume motherhood safely and successfully.

Ideal prenatal care would really begin during the expectant mother’s own infancy, for the chances of a normal pregnancy, labor and lying-in period are greatly increased by good care during the early years of life. But for the time being we shall have to content ourselves with an effort to extend, as widely as possible, the care that is now known to be beneficial for expectant mothers from the beginning of pregnancy.

This prenatal care is undertaken in much the same spirit in which one makes a garden, for example. We know, of course, that plants which are neglected sometimes grow and blossom satisfactorily, though one would not think of depending upon them to do so. But we have learned that plants that are given the care and protection that they need are almost certain to flourish and bloom after the manner of their kind.

Experience teaches, however, that this care must be regular and sustained and always given for the twofold purpose of preserving the plants from injury as well as nourishing them. Accordingly we put them in good soil, to begin with, and then give water, sunshine or shade, according to their respective needs, and we take care to protect them from the destructive effects of harmful insects, blights, weeds or anything which may be unfavorable to their healthy progress. We do not close our eyes to the fact that these harmful conditions are possible. Instead, we are anxious to find out all about them—what causes them and how to recognize them—in order that we may prevent or remove them before they do serious damage.

Many women, nowadays, are taking just that kind of attitude toward motherhood. They begin by consulting a doctor as soon as they know that they are pregnant, because they appreciate the importance of doing so. They study eagerly the questions relating to motherhood; the structure and workings of those parts of their own bodies which are concerned with the baby’s creation; how he evolves within them; what he needs during those nine months of development; what practices, what conditions are bad for the baby and themselves; what they can do to avoid or correct these and how they can help to make things go smoothly.

The women who face the facts of motherhood in this way generally go through the entire adventure normally and successfully, as Nature intended they should. More than this, those women who place themselves under a doctor’s care from the beginning of, or early in, pregnancy, are greatly reassured to find out how much can be done to safeguard them, and they do not have that fear of the approaching birth which is suffered by so many women who do not know nor understand what is going on.

The results of the painstaking work and study which have been carried on to increase the comfort and safety of mothers and babies have made it possible for the doctors to plan something of a routine which they find advisable for their patients to adopt. To begin with, it is quite plain that the first need of every expectant mother is examination and measurement, early in pregnancy, by a good physician. The information thus obtained helps the doctor to foretell the kind of labor that his patient is likely to have, and by planning for it ahead of time he is often able to save her much harm and suffering. An early examination also enables the doctor to discover and correct any slight trouble which may exist at that time and which might grow worse if not treated, and to advise his patient about the general care which he wishes her to take of herself throughout pregnancy. In regard to this care, doctors are generally agreed that the average woman needs to do little more than observe the ordinary rules of personal hygiene, which as a matter of fact, should be followed by all of us; that is, she should live a simple, regular life as to diet, fresh air, exercise, rest, sleep, diversions, etc. This all sounds simple enough and as a matter of course, but it is usually overlooked in spite of being of the most urgent importance to both mother and baby.

This advice varies in little things, here and there, among different doctors, but in the main it is about the same the world over, where thought is being given to the care of expectant mothers. For no matter where they are or what their status, their needs in general are the same. They need a doctor’s supervision and they need to practice the principles of personal hygiene.

Accordingly, in addition to making an early examination and giving instructions about the regulation of her daily life, the doctor usually wants to see his patient and make certain observations every little while during pregnancy, just to make sure that everything is going as it should and to be in a position to discover the earliest and slightest symptoms of complications.

In the old days there were certain complications associated with childbirth which the doctors did not know how to prevent and sometimes could not cure—complications which were bad for both mother and baby. But now they know a great deal about both preventing and curing even the most serious of these complications. They have discovered, for one thing, that many conditions which give serious trouble during labor, or soon afterwards, actually have their beginnings during pregnancy, and sometimes very early.