ALTHOUGH the Ligaments are fixed to the WOMB on each side, under the Tubes, near the Bottom, on purpose to keep it duly in the Middle, from falling to either Side; yet we may easily perceive, First, That the Pregnant WOMB, as it dilates and extends itself most (in the Bottom) above the Ligaments, so it rises Highest and becomes Heaviest in that Part; by which means it cannot always be contained in the narrow Compass of the Pelvis, and the Larger the INFANT is, the Higher the WOMB rises (above the Ligaments) in the Belly. Insomuch that when the Cavity of the Pelvis is not sufficient to contain a large WOMB, fill’d with One or more well-grown INFANTS, together with the Secundines and Humours, it must (of necessity) ascend into the Cavity of the Belly; as is evident from Chap. 10.

SECONDLY, The WOMB being in Form of a Pear, much larger above than below the Ligaments, and that superiour Bulk being only sustain’d at the lower Part by subtile Ligaments apt to extend, as well as supported near the Orifice by the Bladder and Rectum, which are soft, loose, and extensive Parts: Hence, I say, we may easily conceive, that as These are not sufficient to hinder a large Womb from ascending above the Borders of the Pelvis into the Cavity of the Belly; so neither are they able to keep it from leaning or inclining this or that way, by reason of its Weight in the Bottom, which is always the farther distant from the Ligaments, the more it is extended: And the extended Womb being not of the same Firmness and Solidity with That in a natural State, is the more apt and ready to move aside, either on the Right or the Left Hand.

NOW this various Motion of the Womb, in short, will appear more manifestly Probable, when we consider how variously Women with Child move their Bodies, bending them every way for Relief, when oppress’d with Pain; both sitting and lying in different Postures: All which may easily give the Womb a Tendency this or that way, sliding either Forwards or Backwards, to the right or the left Side of the Person.

CHAP. XIII.
Of the Oblique Situation of the WOMB.

I Doubt not in the least but among the Many, some will reject this Thesis as False or New-fangled; but They who are Ignorant of it, are meer blind Novices in the Art of Midwifery: For repeated Experience has taught Myself and many Others the Certainty of this Truth; as will more amply appear from the following Discourse.

THE Womb having then ascended into the Cavity of the Belly, if its pointed Parts tend perpendicularly into the Pelvis, so as that its Orifice may be easily touch’d on every Side with the Fingers, its Bottom is placed about the Navel; and This I call a right or natural Situation: But when otherways, the Posture is changed, inclining this or that way, and the Orifice suspended so High, that it can scarce or not at all be touch’d, I call That a wrong and preternatural Position, or oblique Situation of the Womb; which may not only be occasion’d (as is said) by the Weight and Bulk of its Bottom, above the extended and relaxed Ligaments, but also by many other different Causes; such as an obdurated Gland, a Cicatrix, an Ulcer, an Obstruction of the Vessels in the Ligaments or adjacent Parts, &c.

HENCE it is that the wrong Positions of the WOMB are manifold, which would be very tedious to enumerate exactly here; but only, that I may not pass by what is so material, I shall reduce them to a Four-fold Difference; as the Ancients did the Winds, because of the Four Regions or Limits of the Heavens. And Those Four will (I hope) comprehend all other wrong Situations of the WOMB, not very improperly or mal-à-propos, as Ovid[[156]] has comprehended These in the following elegant Verses, viz.

“Eurus ad Auroram Nabathæáq; regna recessit,

“Persidáq; & radiis Juga subdita matutinis.