Ninth Day.—Mrs. B. is about as usual; feels that she has an abundance of strength to walk some distance in the city. She could walk out with impunity, notwithstanding the weather is very cold, but it is thought best, on the whole, since she is so much about house, and pays so much attention to bathing and ventilation, that she should remain within doors yet, a little.
She says that at the end of three weeks from the birth of the child next older, when beginning to attempt to sit up, she was weaker than she has been at any moment since the birth of the last one. With all her children she has been very weak.
Case VI.—Late in the month of January, of the present year (1850), I was called early in the morning to visit a young married lady, in Fourth Avenue, who was said to be in great suffering from spasms and vomiting. She had not slept during the night, and it was necessary for her husband to remain up with her the whole time. I found her with very high general fever, and oft-recurring spasms, attended with bilious vomiting. The fact of her being in an advanced stage of pregnancy, with this complication of untoward symptoms upon her, designated the case too clearly to a practiced observer, as being one of both delicacy and danger. The parties in the case had no knowledge whatever of the water-cure, or of my particular methods of treatment, and had called me, being the nearest physician, and, as they supposed, of the old school. No medicines had as yet been administered, but the patient, as is common on such occasions, had been deluged with a great variety of articles, in the way of liquid food and drinks, with the hope of “settling the stomach,” a process which can seldom succeed, and, as often practiced, is quite sufficient of itself to make even a well person sick.
The patient and her husband both thought, as a matter of course, that “some physic must be given.” I told them we would first give a tepid-bath, at 70° Fah. This I assured them would give great relief, and knowing well, too, the great prejudice among English people (for they were English) against bathing in pregnancy, I aided the husband, with my own hands, in administering it, thus to be certain of its being well and faithfully done. This they both thought at the time a rather harsh method of treatment; but they had employed the doctor, and he being resolute and determined, they could not refuse. The bath gave great relief, and then, all shivering and cold, a very large wet girdle was put upon the patient, after which she was wrapped warmly in bed, with moderately warm bricks to the feet.
After having allowed the patient to rest awhile, a large injection was administered, and with the best effect. Occasionally, too, retching still occurred (for symptoms of this kind never cease suddenly, and, indeed, should not), at which times tepid water was given freely to drink, for the purpose of aiding vomiting.
Thus the treatment was pursued: as the symptoms appeared to demand, the tepid half-bath, with a good deal of friction, the wet girdle, constantly or nearly so, the injections, and the water-drinking were kept up. From the first moment onward, the patient recovered as rapidly as could be desired. She slept a good deal during the day, and also well at night. The next morning she was quite well, although weak. She then commenced taking nourishment gradually. No further serious troubles were experienced during the period of pregnancy.
The 4th of April, 1850, the above-mentioned lady, at about the end of eight months of pregnancy, as was supposed was delivered. There was more or less of pain during thirty-six hours previous to the birth. The pains were rather severe during the most of twenty-four hours, proving that good health, with abundant exercise and bathing, are not necessarily of themselves capable of causing short and easy labor.
The child was born at about five o’clock in the afternoon. Soon a thorough ablution was performed in the sitting-bath. No patient ever had a better understanding of what was necessary in the case, and none, certainly, could be more free from all sensations of false modesty or delicacy; nor could any one pursue the treatment with greater confidence than she did. There was no time when she could not easily sit up or stand, if necessary, and, with the good nursing of her husband, she improved most rapidly. She wore the wet girdle most of the time, alternating, however, now and then, with simple fomentations. She bathed four times during the first twenty-four hours after the birth, washing the whole body thoroughly at each time, the water being moderated to from 60° to 70° Fah. She sat up during this time about six hours in all, and walked by spells a little in her room. She suffered somewhat with after-pains, but the means before mentioned, together with injections to the bowels, generally brought relief. All along her appetite and sleep were good.
The second day the patient sat up most of the time, and walked to other parts of the house, and for an hour and a half visited a friend. She could have gone abroad in the open air, had it been necessary for her so to do.
The third morning, that is, when her infant was two and a half days old, the patient walked with her husband a distance of about three fourths of a mile, visiting a friend. She was fatigued somewhat, but, on the whole, benefited by the undertaking.