No fluid but water should be used in ordinary cases. When, however, there is much discharge, a pinch of powdered alum can be dissolved in the water; and when there is an unpleasant odor present, a sufficient amount of solution of permanganate of potash may be added to the water, to change it to a light pink color. This latter substance is most admirable in removing all unpleasant odors; but it will stain the clothing, and must on that account be employed with caution.
We will add a few warnings to what we have just said about injections. There are times when they should be omitted,—as for instance during the periodical illness, when the body is either chilled or heated, and generally when their administration gives pain. There are also some women in whom the mouth of the womb remains open, especially those who have borne many children. In such cases, the liquid used is liable to be thrown into the womb itself, and may give rise to serious troubles. These should either omit the use of the syringe altogether, or obtain one of those which throw the water backward and not forward. This variety is manufactured and sold by various dealers.
Irrigations are more convenient in some respects than injections. They are administered in the following manner:—A jar holding about a gallon of water, simple or medicated, as may be advisable, is placed upon a table or high stand. A long india-rubber tube is attached to the bottom of the jar, ending in a metallic tube, and furnished with a stopcock. The patient seats herself on the edge of a chair over a basin, introduces the tube, and turns the stopcock. The liquid is thus thrown up in a gentle, equable stream, without any exertion on her part. No assistant is required, and the force and amount of the liquid can be exactly graduated by elevating or lowering the jar, or by turning the stopcock. When there is much debility, or when it is desirable to apply the liquid for a long time, this method is much preferable to syringing. The necessary apparatus can readily be obtained in any large city. It has, however, the drawback that the jar is large, and not convenient to carry on journeys.
We shall close this chapter on Health in Marriage by a few words on some of the ailments to which mothers are subject while nursing.
GATHERED BREASTS.
Gathering of the breasts may occur at any time during the period of nursing, but it is most frequently met with within the first three months after childbirth, and is more common after the first than after subsequent confinements. All women are more or less liable to it, but those who are weakly, and particularly those who are scrofulous, are most prone to its attacks.
The causes of inflammation of the breast are numerous. It may be created by a blow or fall, by a cold, by mental excitement, by indiscretions in eating or drinking, and by moving the arms too much when the breasts are enlarged, but its most common cause is undue accumulation of milk in the breasts. Dr. Bedford is of the opinion that in nineteen cases out of twenty it is the result of carelessness—of neglect in not having the breasts properly drawn. 'For example, the child may be delicate, and not able to extract the milk; or the nurse, in the gratification of some ancient prejudice derived from a remote ancestry, does not think it proper to allow the infant to be put to the breast for two or three days after its birth. In this way, the milk ducts become greatly distended, inflammation ensues, which, if not promptly arrested, terminates in suppuration.'
Often the love of pleasure brings with it this punishment to the nursing mother who neglects her maternal duties. During an evening spent in society or at the theatre the breasts cannot be relieved in the manner required for the preservation of their health.
Soreness of the nipples, which renders suckling painful, often leads the mother to avoid putting the child to the breast as often as she should. It is only when forced by the pain in the over-distended parts that she can summon courage to permit of their being emptied. This partial and irregular nursing is very dangerous, and cannot fail, in most cases, to lead to the very painful affection of which we are now speaking.
No nursing mother is safe whose breasts are not properly and daily emptied. If this cannot be done by the child, another infant should be applied, or a small puppy, either of which expedients is preferable to a breast-pump, which, however, is much better than neither. If the tender or chapped condition of the nipples interferes with free nursing, this condition must be promptly remedied. When undue accumulation of milk is threatened gentle friction of the breasts with sweet oil and camphor is also of service; and they should be supported by means of a handkerchief placed under them and tied over the shoulders.