Diet. — Light, but nutritious, food should be given. Beef-
tea, milk, eggs, etc., may be freely allowed the first day, and
meat on the second day, with wine or malt liquor, according to
previous usage, and with strict moderation. After months of
gestation and hours of suffering, with absolute loss of bulk, the
constitution certainly requires restoration rather than depletion
or further pulling down. It should be borne in mind, moreover,
that a source of weakness is going on for many days after-
wards.
By a strange perversity the contradictory practice of nearly
absolute starvation was formerly followed too often by that of
inordinate stimulation. It was deemed necessary for the due
performance of maternal functions that a large quantity of
strong beer should be taken daily. The quantities consumed
Id
i
200 MEDICINAL.
under this plea would have seemed incredible to persons of
moderate habits. The writer has the still heavier charge to
lay against the practice — that it has made many women
drunkards.
It may be laid down as a rule that healthy women require
no larger quantities of stimulants when nursing than at other
times. What serves the purpose, of health before childbirth
will serve them afterwards. The secretion of milk, instead of
being promoted, is retarded by over stimulation. A pint or a
pint and a half of malt liquor daily, is ample allowance for any
healthy mother. Those who have been water-drinkers before
they were mothers, may safely remain so afterwards.
Rest and Nursing. — Next to care in diet, is care as to
rest and quietness. There is no need for absolute silence or
total darkness in the room. The cheerful conversation of the
nearest relatives may be allowed without fear of ill effects.
The room should be kept light and airy. Ventilation should be
carefully attended to. There is a popular notion — erroneous,
like a good many old nurses' fables — that the eyes of lying-in
women are especially intolerant of light. Such is not a fact.
The reading of light literature is peculiarly grateful and suit-
able for this time. The recumbent posture must be preserved
for at least a week. After that time, if all be going on well,
sitting up in an easy-chair may be permitted. Walking about
or standing had better not be attempted earlier than ten or
twelve days, as the womb has not yet returned to its normal
size, and is consequently heavy and prone to lay the foundation
of future maladies if left to its own gravity too early.
Suckling. — The period at which milk is secreted varies in
almost every case. Some women will have milk in the breast
for weeks before the child is born, others will not have it for
several days after. In most instances it comes quietly into the
breasts on the second or third day. In some there is a slight
degree of febrile disturbance attending its appearance. This,
however, quickly subsides under a small reduction of diet —
the low-diet system is not to be put in force on account of this
trifling disturbance. The infant should be put to the breast
about every two hours — not less frequently, lest the breast get
MEDICINAL. 291
painfully distended; not more frequently, lest it disturb th^
rest of both itself and mother by its much importunity.
Page 203
Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Diet. — Light, but nutritious, food should be given. Beeftea, milk, eggs, etc., may be freely allowed the first day, and meat on the second day, with wine or malt liquor, according to previous usage, and with strict moderation. After months of gestation and hours of suffering, with absolute loss of bulk, the constitution certainly requires restoration rather than depletion or further pulling down. It should be borne in mind, moreover, that a source of weakness is going on for many days afterwards.
By a strange perversity the contradictory practice of nearly absolute starvation was formerly followed too often by that of inordinate stimulation. It was deemed necessary for the due performance of maternal functions that a large quantity of
strong beer should be taken daily. The quantities consumed
under this plea would have seemed incredible to persons of moderate habits. The writer has the still heavier charge to lay against the practice — that it has made many women drunkards.
It may be laid down as a rule that healthy women require no larger quantities of stimulants when nursing than at other times. What serves the purpose, of health before childbirth will serve them afterwards. The secretion of milk, instead of being promoted, is retarded by over stimulation. A pint or a pint and a half of malt liquor daily, is ample allowance for any healthy mother. Those who have been water-drinkers before they were mothers, may safely remain so afterwards.
Rest and Nursing. — Next to care in diet, is care as to rest and quietness. There is no need for absolute silence or total darkness in the room. The cheerful conversation of the nearest relatives may be allowed without fear of ill effects. The room should be kept light and airy. Ventilation should be carefully attended to. There is a popular notion — erroneous, like a good many old nurses' fables — that the eyes of lying-in women are especially intolerant of light. Such is not a fact. The reading of light literature is peculiarly grateful and suitable for this time. The recumbent posture must be preserved for at least a week. After that time, if all be going on well, sitting up in an easy-chair may be permitted. Walking about or standing had better not be attempted earlier than ten or twelve days, as the womb has not yet returned to its normal size, and is consequently heavy and prone to lay the foundation of future maladies if left to its own gravity too early.
Suckling. — The period at which milk is secreted varies in almost every case. Some women will have milk in the breast for weeks before the child is born, others will not have it for several days after. In most instances it comes quietly into the breasts on the second or third day. In some there is a slight degree of febrile disturbance attending its appearance. This, however, quickly subsides under a small reduction of diet — the low-diet system is not to be put in force on account of this trifling disturbance. The infant should be put to the breast about every two hours — not less frequently, lest the breast get painfully distended; not more frequently, lest it disturb the rest of both itself and mother by its much importunity.