“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly.”
481. There are times, and times without number, when a medical man is called upon to do but little or nothing; and there are others—few and far between—when it is imperatively necessary that he should do a great deal. He ought at all times to be, as gentle as a lamb, but should, in certain contingencies, be as fearless as a lion!
482. Should the husband be present during the labor? Certainly not; but as soon as the labor is over, and all the soiled clothes have been put out of the way, let him instantly see his wife for a few minutes, to whisper in her ear words of affection, of gratitude, and consolation.
483. The first confinement is generally twice the length of time of an after one, and usually the more children a lady has had, the quicker is the labor; but this is by no means always the case, as some of the after labors may be the tedious, while the early confinements may be the quick ones.
484. It ought to be borne in mind, too, that tedious labors are oftentimes natural labors, and that they only require time and patience from all concerned to bring them to a successful issue.
485. It may be said that a first labor, as a rule, lasts six hours, while an after labor probably lasts but three. This space of time, of course, does not usually include the commencement of labor pains, but the time that a lady may be actually said to be in real labor. If we are to reckon from the commencement of the labor, we ought to double the above numbers—that is to say, we should make the average duration of a first labor twelve; of an after labor, six hours.
486. When a lady marries late in life—for instance, after she has passed the age of thirty—her first labor is usually much more lingering, painful, and tedious, demanding a great stock of patience from the patient, from the doctor, and from the friends; notwithstanding which, if she be not hurried and be not much interfered with, both she and the baby generally do remarkably well. Supposing a lady marries late in life, it is only the first confinement that is usually hard and lingering; the after labors are as easy as though she had married when young.
487. Slow labors are not necessarily dangerous; on the contrary, a patient frequently has a better and more rapid recovery, provided there has been no interference, after a tedious than after a quick confinement—proving beyond doubt that nature hates hurry and interference. It is an old saying, and, I believe, a true one, that a lying-in woman must have pain either before or after a labor; and it certainly is far preferable that she should have the pain and suffering before than after the labor is over.
488. It is well for a patient to know that, as a rule, after a first confinement she never has after pains. This is some consolation, and is a kind of compensation for her usually suffering more with her first child.