"With all persons plenty of fresh air, night and day, is indispensable to health, and to none more than the pregnant woman. She should sleep with the windows open, or out of doors, at all seasons of the year; of course, making due allowance for the severity of the winters in the North. It is not only necessary to provide for the adequate ventilation of sleeping-rooms, but also for that of the living-rooms of the house.
Many persons, who are quite particular to open wide the windows of the bedrooms, forget that the other rooms need it quite as much. All the rooms of the house which are occupied should be thoroughly ventilated by throwing doors and windows open every morning; at night when the family is assembled the air must be changed now and then or it will become unfit for human lungs."
Men and women are outdoor animals. They were made to live in a garden, not a house. Remember that each person requires one cubic foot of fresh air every second. Don't allow the temperature of living-rooms, during the winter season, to go above sixty-eight degrees. If your home has no system of ventilation, open wide the windows and doors several times a day and enjoy the blessings of a thorough-going flushing with fresh air.
Oxygen is the vital fire of life. Our food, however well digested and assimilated, is just as useless to the body without oxygen, as coal is to the furnace without air. It is equally important to keep up the proper degree of moisture in the air of the living-rooms.
BATHING
Bathing is made necessary by the clothes we wear and by our indoor life. If the skin were daily exposed to sunshine and fresh air, it would seldom be necessary to bathe. The neglect of regular bathing results in overworking the liver and kidneys, and debilitates the skin. Regular bathing—ofttimes sweating baths—is very essential to the hygiene of pregnancy.
The neutral bath (97 F.) is excellent to quiet the nerves and induce sleep. Morning bathing is an exceedingly valuable practice. If properly taken before breakfast or midway between breakfast and lunch, it is found to be refreshing and tonic in nature. The feet should be in warm water, the application of cold should be short and vigorous. A rough mit dipped in cold water, rubbed over the body until the skin is pink, is a splendid tonic.
Warm cleansing baths should be taken twice a week at night. There is no good reason for the use of the vaginal douche during pregnancy.
THE TEETH
Because the mother's system is drained of the lime salts which aid in building up the bones of the child, along with other metabolic changes which cause the retention of certain acids which ofttimes affect the teeth, they should be frequently examined and carefully guarded. Severe dental work should be avoided, but all cavities should receive temporary fillings while the teeth are kept free from deposits.