Mother's Remedies / Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada

by Thomas Jefferson Ritter

[OBSTETRICS OR MIDWIFERY 535]

THE CHILD.

The eyes should be washed soon and normal respiration established. If the child does not breathe well, cold water may be sprinkled in the face and chest and if this fails, immersions in hot water at 106 degrees F., and sprinkling with cold water must be resorted to. If necessary, artificial respiration must be given. Slap the child on the back and move the arms up and down by the side a few times, or breathing into the child's mouth.

Another method.—Face the child's back, put an index finger in each arm-pit and the thumbs over the shoulders, so that their ends over-lap the collar-bone and rest on the front of the chest, the rest of the fingers going obliquely over the back of the chest. The child is suspended perpendicularly between the operator's knees. Its whole weight now hangs on the first fingers in the arm-pit; by these means the ribs are lifted, the chest is expanded and inspiration is mechanically produced. The infant is now swung upward till the operative's hands are just above the horizontal line, when the motion is abruptly, but carefully, arrested. The momentum causes the lower limbs and pelvis of the infant to topple over toward the operator. The greater part of the weight now rests on the thumbs, which press on the front of the chest, while the abdominal organs press upon the diaphragm. By these two factors, the chest is compressed and we get expiration, mechanically. After five seconds the first position is resumed again, and the lungs expand and fill with air. This process may be repeated several times until the breathing seems to be going naturally, and with delicate infants it should be the last resort.

After the breathing has been established the child should be wrapped in a warm flannel with hot water bags or cans near it, and left until the mother has been cared for. Infants at birth are covered with a white greasy substance, vernix caseosa, or cheesy varnish; it is removed by applying olive oil, vaselin or fresh lard, and afterward rubbing the skin gently with a soft cloth. The eyes and mouth should be washed out with pure warm water—or a saturated solution of boric acid, used. Separate squares of soft linen being used for this purpose. If the baby is born too soon or is very small, weak and undeveloped, it should be given an oil bath, only, and then wrapped in cotton wool and kept at a temperature of not less than 80 degrees F., for ten days or two weeks.

[536 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]

To a fully developed child the first bath may be given at once. Have everything ready before beginning, a foot tub, warm soft towels, warm water, castile soap, olive oil or vaselin, small squares of muslin or linen, dusting powder, a dressing for the navel and clothing, the latter consisting of a diaper, a flannel band, a shirt, long woolen stockings, a loose long sleeved flannel petticoat and a simple soft white outside garment, the two last, long enough to more than cover the feet. The infant should be wrapped in flannel and only the part which is being bathed at the moment should be exposed. The eyes are first bathed separately and with different cloths, and afterward the face, no soap being used; the head is then washed with warm water; very little soap should be used with infants as it is more or less irritating, and it is likely to injure the fine texture of the skin. Next, one should carefully clean the parts behind the ears and the crevices of the neck, arm-pits and joints and those between the buttocks and the thighs, and it is well to notice if all the natural openings are perfect; finally the baby is put down into the tub of warm water at about 96 degrees F., and washed off, with the head and back firmly supported with the left arm and hand during the bath. The baby is lifted out in a minute of two, held face downward for a moment and rinsed off with clean warm water. It is then wrapped in a warm towel and flannel and dried by patting, not rubbing. It is best to do all this on a table, instead of on the lap, and it should be large enough to hold a bath tub, every thing necessary for the bath and a pillow upon which to place the baby. Everything then can be done without stooping and with greater comfort to the child. Powder should not be used except where there are signs of chafing, when stearate of zinc is the best to use.

The navel is then dressed. A hole is cut in the center of a square of sterilized lint or linen which is slipped over the cord and folded about it; the cord is then laid toward the left side, and over it is put a small sterilized cotton pad which is held in place by the flannel bandage and just tight enough to hold. The binder may be kept on by sewing it smoothly with half a dozen large stitches, thus doing away with any danger of being injured from the pins. A binder should only be tight enough to hold the dressing for the navel. After the cord drops off the looser knitted band should be used. The infant is not bathed in the tub again until after the cord has been dried up and ready to drop off, which usually occurs on the fifth or sixth day, although it may not drop off for nine days. The cord should not be redressed in the meantime. (See Baby Department for further directions).

THE MOTHER.

The first duty of the physician, following the third stage of labor, is to see that the womb is well contracted and control of this organ should be continued for at least one hour after delivery. This generally prevents excessive loss of blood. If necessary to promote womb contraction one teaspoonful of ergot can be given. After the womb has been kept in a state of contraction, the room should be rid of all evidences of labor and the woman made comfortable. The buttocks and thighs which have been soiled during the labor should be bathed with warm water and soap and the external genitals sprayed with an antiseptic solution, then dried with sterile gauze or cotton, the dressing applied to the vulva and the temporary bed removed, her night dress pulled down and the patient thus lying in a clean, comfortable bedding. The woman may then have a cup of weak tea, hot milk or broth and be left to rest; but during the first sleep the womb should be carefully watched lest it relax and serious, if not fatal, bleeding occur. In a normal confinement the dressings need not be changed, as a rule, oftener than six times in twenty-four hours, for the first few days. As soon as convenient after the first toilet is finished the physician sterilizes his hands and with the patient on her left side introduces one finger into the rectum and the thumb into the vagina to discover the condition of the perineum. Washing out of the vagina is not necessary as a rule.