Bladder trouble is not infrequent in the early and last stages of pregnancy; the causes of this were pointed out when the symptoms of pregnancy were inquired into. Recipe No. V is sometimes very useful to relieve this irritability, or a Femina vaginal capsule introduced into the vagina every night at bedtime, is sure to give the desired relief.
The kidneys of pregnant women should not be neglected. On this question Dumas, an eminent French authority, says: “Physiological pregnancy, by modifying the quality and quantity of the blood is a predisposing general cause of albuminuria or Bright’s disease. But to produce the last a cause must be added, and this may be due to a true pathological state of the blood, a morbid condition of the kidney, an accidental cause or mechanical pressure exerted by the uterus, where it has acquired a sufficient size.” If the pregnant woman notices that her urine becomes thick and foamy, that her head aches and her limbs swell, she should pay particular attention to keep her bowels free, and besides drink a cupful of buchu tea every night at bedtime.
Palpitation of the heart is a source of great annoyance to some women in the earlier months of pregnancy. Women of a nervous temperament and those who are of a full plethoric habit are most likely to suffer from distressing palpitation. Nervous women should take ten grains of bromide of sodium in half tumbler of water at bedtime, and only a very light supper, while those who are full blooded should keep their bowels freely opened and remove all pressure from the chest and abdomen by wearing the clothing loose.
Pain in the abdomen walls from the sixth to the ninth month is particularly apt to occur in the first pregnancy. The abdominal walls offer a firm resistance to the growth of the uterus, and being thus put on the stretch by the combined development of the child and the womb, the muscles and skin become excessively tender and painful. I have recommended for this complaint:—
| Take: | Tr. of opium (laudanum). | |
| Glycerine, of each | 1 ounce |
Mix and apply by means of gentle friction every night at bedtime or night and morning.
Itching of the external organs will sometimes make the life of the pregnant woman miserable. I have seen it in so aggravated a form that the constant scratching to which the patient had recourse in the hope of being relieved, lacerated the parts so that they became ulcerated. The causes of this condition are numerous, the patient from motives of delicacy conceals her suffering until she can endure it no longer. It also happens that pregnancy has nothing at all to do with the itching for it may be due to diabetes, inattention to personal cleanliness, the presence of small parasitic insects, acrid discharges from the vagina, or from pinworms in the rectum.
If owing to parasites, mercurial ointment will cure the disease, if from vaginal discharges warm vaginal douches in which the Femina antiseptic tablets are dissolved will be the efficient remedy, and after a thorough ablution, the application by means of a camel’s hair brush of a solution of cocaine will relieve the itching.
Hemorrhoids, or piles, frequently torment the pregnant female beyond reasonable endurance. Piles may be either external or internal, in either case they are exceedingly apt to be very painful. When they occur in pregnancy they are due, in the first place, to an obstruction to the free return of blood to the heart by the enlarged uterus pressing on the large venous trunks and secondly, to constipation, which as we have learned is so frequently an attendant upon pregnancy. If the piles bleed it may give temporary relief, but if the bleeding occurs too frequently, the patient becomes pale and weak from the loss of blood. I know of no painful and troublesome malady in which the application of a little common sense has greater brilliant results than in piles, yet of all maladies, with perhaps the exception of catarrh of the nose, it is the most abused by senseless and meddlesome doctoring. The first step to engage the attention of the patient is to regulate the bowels and overcome the constipation; the passages must be kept soft and soluble, unless this is accomplished all the other efforts fail. The constipation must be partly relieved by proper dieting, and partly by suitable remedies. A simple bland diet, for a short time at least, is very useful; bread and milk, thin milk gruel, fruits and vegetables are to be preferred; abstain from solids, from meat and eggs and everything of the nature of beer and wine or alcohol, even coffee is irritating; while the disease is at its height eat sparingly of everything, but drink plenty of water, warm or cold, but not iced cold. The bowels should be regulated by taking a mild, efficient laxative, none being better than the Femina laxative syrup. Another precaution, very essential to success, is that after each stool the parts are gently bathed and washed with tepid or cool water by means of a soft sponge; gentle pressure can be exerted at the same time so as to assist the piles to return into the rectum. If they cannot be returned in this manner, the patient must learn to use her index finger and with it oiled with a little sweet oil or vaseline the piles are gradually shoved back into the rectum which alone relieves the suffering, because it relieves the strangulation and swelling which the sphincter muscle of the rectum causes. The pushing back after each stool and even between times is one of the essential features of a successful home treatment for piles, and it must be kept up for years, if necessary, to insure comfort and to guard against a relapse. Better than plain oil or vaseline is the nutgall ointment to be had at any drug store, but if the pain and distress continue use the following recipe:—