The Disorders of pregnancy will, nowever, require notice
as to their prevention as well as treatment. The stomach
being, through sympathetic irritation, prone to derangement,
care should be taken to avoid what is known by individual
experience to be indigestible, avoiding the frequent recourse to
stimulants to relieve the slight ailments incidental to a natural
condition. Indigestion is one of these, and may generally
be relieved by bicarbonate of soda or magnesia, or by a rigidly
abstemious diet for a few days. Costiveness is also a common
attendant upon pregnancy, and leads to a troublesome affection
— piles, and should be prevented by dieting, or by occasional
doses of some mild aperient, such as castor oil, or rhubarb and
magnesia, or citrate of magnesia. Piles, if present, will also
356 MEDICINAL,
be relieved by the action of the aperients. We would warn
against the senseless practice of taking frequent doses of oil as
a matter of course. There is no call in nature for anything of
the kind, and no need for such gratuitous physicking.
Vomiting. — The morning sickness that attends the early
weeks of pregnancy amounts in general to little beyond
annoyance every morning. Sometimes, however, it becomes so
constant and persistent as to be a real illness of itself, prevent-
ing the retention of food of any kind, so that the sufferer be-
comes enfeebled, emaciated, and as if bloodless. The ordinary
morning sickness may be moderated by a teaspoonful or two
of Noyau, or cherry-brandy in milk, taken quite early in the
morning before rising. It should be swallowed, the patient
merely turning on her side and raising only on to her elbow —
not getting up into the upright or sitting posture. Then lying
quietly for an hour, and taking after that time a small cup of
strong coffee and dry biscuit; again resting for half an hour
after this breakfast.
Quickening is very frequently attended with faintness and
palpitation of the heart, but these soon pass away, and are
relieved by simple means. These symptoms, however, are apt
to recur at any period, under circumstances that disturb health,
such as over-fatigue, either in pursuit of pleasure or of duty.
Enlargement and distension of the veins of the legs are
apt to occur during the latter months of pregnancy, when the
womb, being large and heavy, presses upon the veins in the
lower part of the body, and retards the return of the blood
from the limbs. Hence, varicose veins are established, and
become a fixed trouble. The recumbent posture, by taking off
some of the pressure from the internal vessels, is calculated to
diminish the distention of the veins of the legs; additional
support may be afforded to these by wearing elastic-web
stockings.
Cutaneous Irritation of the private parts often occurs
in the early months of pregnancy, and, indeed, in some persons
forms the first indication of the pregnant condition. A lotion
of carbolic acid applied to the parts several times a day affords
considerable comfort. Take of goulard water, one-half pint;
saturated solution of carbolic acid, lo drops. Mix and use as
lotion.
Page 259
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
The Disorders of pregnancy will, however, require notice as to their prevention as well as treatment. The stomach being, through sympathetic irritation, prone to derangement, care should be taken to avoid what is known by individual experience to be indigestible, avoiding the frequent recourse to stimulants to relieve the slight ailments incidental to a natural condition. Indigestion is one of these, and may generally be relieved by bicarbonate of soda or magnesia, or by a rigidly abstemious diet for a few days. Costiveness is also a common attendant upon pregnancy, and leads to a troublesome affection — piles, and should be prevented by dieting, or by occasional doses of some mild aperient, such as castor oil, or rhubarb and magnesia, or citrate of magnesia. Piles, if present, will also
be relieved by the action of the aperients. We would warn against the senseless practice of taking frequent doses of oil as a matter of course. There is no call in nature for anything of the kind, and no need for such gratuitous physicking.
Vomiting. — The morning sickness that attends the early weeks of pregnancy amounts in general to little beyond annoyance every morning. Sometimes, however, it becomes so constant and persistent as to be a real illness of itself, preventing the retention of food of any kind, so that the sufferer becomes enfeebled, emaciated, and as if bloodless. The ordinary morning sickness may be moderated by a teaspoonful or two of Noyau, or cherry-brandy in milk, taken quite early in the morning before rising. It should be swallowed, the patient merely turning on her side and raising only on to her elbow — not getting up into the upright or sitting posture. Then lying quietly for an hour, and taking after that time a small cup of strong coffee and dry biscuit; again resting for half an hour after this breakfast.
Quickening is very frequently attended with faintness and palpitation of the heart, but these soon pass away, and are relieved by simple means. These symptoms, however, are apt to recur at any period, under circumstances that disturb health, such as over-fatigue, either in pursuit of pleasure or of duty.
Enlargement and distension of the veins of the legs are apt to occur during the latter months of pregnancy, when the womb, being large and heavy, presses upon the veins in the lower part of the body, and retards the return of the blood from the limbs. Hence, varicose veins are established, and become a fixed trouble. The recumbent posture, by taking off some of the pressure from the internal vessels, is calculated to diminish the distention of the veins of the legs; additional support may be afforded to these by wearing elastic-web stockings.
Cutaneous Irritation of the private parts often occurs in the early months of pregnancy, and, indeed, in some persons forms the first indication of the pregnant condition. A lotion of carbolic acid applied to the parts several times a day affords considerable comfort. Take of goulard water, one-half pint; saturated solution of carbolic acid, lo drops. Mix and use as lotion.