Fig. 84.—Palpating through the perineum to ascertain the stage of descent of the baby’s head. (From photograph taken at Johns Hopkins Hospital.)
As soon as the baby is completely born a sterile douche pan should be slipped under the patient or a small sterile basin placed close to the perineum, to receive the blood which escapes during the third stage. This is partly to protect the bed, but chiefly that the blood may be measured, as in no other way can it be ascertained how much the patient loses. A loss of 600 cubic centimetres or more is regarded as a hemorrhage.
Fig. 85.—Baby’s head appearing at the vulva at the height of a pain. (This and succeeding pictures of a normal delivery are from photographs taken at Johns Hopkins Hospital.)
Fig. 86.—Advance of the head indicated by stretching of the vulva and perineum.
Fig. 87.—Holding back the head at the height of a pain to prevent a perineal tear.
