“I know it seems crazy, but any method that will, practically without pain, stimulate women who were formerly in labor for from twelve to fifteen hours to complete delivery—in many instances within three hours—is a good method. I shall continue its use, no matter how foolish it may appear.”
Another physician, who has had a large and successful experience with zone therapy, writes:
“In obstetrics I have almost completely discarded chloroform at the close of the second stage, where I used to almost always use it. In the first stage, zone therapy relieves the nagging pains without retarding, but rather promoting dilatation. In the second stage delivery is hastened. Women seem so quiet and easy one would think ‘there was nothing doing,’ until on examination, you are surprised to see what has been accomplished. For this work I use a serrated strip of aluminum 1/16 in. thick, imbedded in a piece of wood of convenient size, or else I use a seven inch aluminum comb, pressing the teeth against the inner part of the sole of the foot, or near the ball, alternating from one foot to the other. When I have an assistant both feet are manipulated at a time, and that aids very materially. I exert as much pressure as the patient can bear without pain. When I have an assistant well trained I am going to try zone therapy for instrumental delivery.”
In connection with the subject of confinement and operations upon women this report from Dr. G. Murray Edwards, of Denver, Colorado, is of peculiar interest:
“Mrs. McK., age 35; pregnant four and a half months; multipara. Placenta praevia (a grave condition, in which the afterbirth precedes the child in delivery), aborted Dec. 5, 1915, curettement (scraping out of the uterus), Dec. 7, 1915. Temperature 99, pulse 80. This case occurring during Dr. White’s lecture course in Denver, when Dr. Fitzgerald’s pressure method of analgesia was being discussed, I decided to try it out for the first time on this patient. She being a very nervous woman, I felt a little reluctant in the experiment. I did not tell her, however, I was going to use a new method, but quietly placed three elastics, an eighth of an inch wide, on each foot, one around the large toe at the first joint, and one around the others similarly in pairs.
“After fifteen minutes, preparing my instruments in the meantime, I told her we were ready, and while we did not intend to use chloroform, instructed her carefully to tell me immediately if she felt any pain whatsoever. The curettement was conducted in every detail as though she were under general anesthesia, and as I questioned her frequently as to pain, she always came back with a smile and a negative reply.
“We removed fully a teacupful of placental tissue in about ten minutes, while the patient passed the time joking, and when finished assured me she felt much better than when we started, as she was nervous looking forward to the anesthetic. This I consider a typical case, and have no misgivings as to its working generally.”
In similar strain scores of letters tell of the successes attending the employment of this method in labor, and in operations upon women.
Now, I do not contend that a few score, or a few hundred swallows make a summer, but their presence undoubtedly indicates that summer may be well on the way.