If, as soon as she is delivered of the dead child, you are in doubt that part of the afterbirth is left behind in the body (for in such cases as these many times it rots, and comes away piece-meal), let her continue drinking the same decoction until her body be cleansed.
A decoction made of herbs, muster-wort, used as you did the decoction of hyssop, works the effect. Let the midwife also take the roots of pollodum and stamp them well; warm them a little and bind them on the sides of her feet, and it will soon bring away the child either dead or alive.
The following medicines also are such as stir up the expulsive faculty, but in this case they
must be stronger, because the motion of the child ceases.
Take savine, round birthwort, trochisks of myrrh, castor, cinnamon and saffron, each half a drachm; make a powder, give a drachm.
Or she may purge first, and then apply an emollient, anointing her about the womb with oil of lilies, sweet almonds, camomiles, hen and goose-grease. Also foment to get out the child, with a decoction of mercury, orris, wild cucumbers, saecus, broom flowers. Then anoint the privities and loins with ointment of sow-bread. Or, take coloquintida, agaric, birthwort, of each a drachm; make a powder, add ammoniacum dissolved in wine, ox-gall, each two drachms. Or make a fume with an ass's hoof burnt, or gallianum, or castor, and let it be taken in with a funnel.
To take away pains and strengthen the parts, foment with the decoction of mugwort, mallows, rosemary, with wood myrtle, St. John's wort, each half an ounce, spermaceti two drachms, deer's suet, an ounce; with wax make an ointment. Or take wax six ounces, spermaceti an ounce; melt them, dip flux therein, and lay it all over her belly.
If none of these things will do, the last remedy is to try surgery, and then the midwife ought without delay to send for an expert and able
man-midwife, to deliver her by manual operation, of which I shall treat more at large in the next chapter.