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CHILDBIRTH: 
 
 ITS PAINS GREATLY LESSENED, ITS PERILS ENTIRELY 
 
 OBVIATED. 
 
 BEING- AN ACCOUNT OF AN 
 
 EXPERIMENT RECENTLY MADE IN LONDON. 
 
 WITH ALLUSIONS TO 
 
 SEVERAL CASES IN THIS COUNTRY. 
 
 AND A CLEAR 
 
 EXPOSITION OP 1 THEIR PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 SHOWING THAT 
 
 THE PAINS OP CHILDBIRTH MAT BE GREATLY MITIGATED, 
 IF NOT ENTIRELY PREVENTED, 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 " INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL QUALITIES TRANSMISSIBLE. J 
 
 ■ 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY HENRY G DAGGERS, 
 
 NO. 30 ANN STREET. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, by 
 
 HENRY G. DAGGERS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New York, May 
 
 16, 1845. 
 
 b DlY 
 
 
 *"*•> >^ >\\ ,U . W ,Y.».. 
 
 \ J ': V 
 
 
 
 *v \. -Vw > 
 
CHILDBIRTH: 
 
 Presumptuous and unnatural as the assertion contained 
 in the title of this work may appear, it is, nevertheless, 
 sustained by the highest medical authority. Dr. Dewees, 
 Professor of Obstetrics in the Medical School of Pensylva- 
 nia, in an elaborate Thesis on Childbirth, took the broad 
 ground, that pain in childbirth was a morbid symptom, the 
 consequence of artificial modes of life and treatment, and 
 could be avoided by appropriate habits and treatment. 
 
 It is a well established fact, that women are to be found 
 in almost every country who suffer no pain in child.-, 
 birth. 
 
 Now, as a natural law never admits of an exception, 
 this exemption from pain could not occur in any indivi- 
 dual, unless it were fairly within the capabilities of ^the 
 race. 
 
4 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 c( If the public mind," says Dr. Combe, " were only 
 sufficiently enlightened to act on the perception, that no 
 effect can take place without some cause, known or un- 
 known, preceding it, to which its existence is really due, 
 many evils to which we are now subject might easily be 
 avoided. If, for example, women in childbed could be 
 convinced, from previous knowledge, that, as a general 
 rule, the danger attending that state is proportioned to the 
 previous sound or unsound condition of the system, and 
 to its good or bad management at the time, and is not the 
 mere effect of chance, they would be much more anxious 
 to find out, and successful in observing, the laws of health, 
 both for their own sakes and for the sake of the future 
 infant, than they now are, while ignorant of the influence 
 of their own conduct. Accordingly, I entirely agree with 
 Dr. Eberle, when he says that " the pregnant female, who 
 observes a suitable regimen, will, caeieris paribus, always 
 enjoy more tranquillity both of mind and body, and incur 
 much less risk of injury to herself and child, than she 
 who, giving a free reign to her appetite, indulges to excess, 
 or in the use of improper articles of food. 
 
 " In sorrow shalt thou bring forth," says the text, allud- 
 ing to woman and her offspring. This sentence has re- 
 sulted in a general belief that the pains of childbirth, in 
 their present aggravated intensity, are unavoidable. That 
 this is, to a certain extent, a popular error, is we think, 
 conclusively shown in the following paragraph from 
 " Combe's Constitution of Man," a work of undeniable 
 authority :* 
 
 l»r . i - — I l , I 1 I l II P — r , I I I ■ ■ i . i ■ . . 
 
 * The following remarks of Mr. Combe, " On the Relation be- 
 tween Science and Scripture," apply to the present subject : 
 
 "If the views of human nature expounded in this work be 
 untrue, the proper answer to them is a demonstration of their 
 falsity. If they be true, they are mere enunciations of the insti- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 5 
 
 " The sufferings of women in child bed have been cited 
 as evidence that the Creator has not intended the human 
 
 tutions of the Creator ; and it argues superstitious, and not reli- 
 gious feelings, to fear evil consequences from the knowledge of what 
 divine wisdom has appointed. The argument that the results of 
 the doctrine are obviously at variance with scripture, and that there, 
 fore the doctrines cannot be true, is not admissible; 'for,' in the 
 words of Dr. Whately, ' if we really are convinced of the truth of 
 scripture, and consequently of the falsity of any theory, (of the earth 
 for instance,) which is really at variance with it, we must next be- 
 lieve that the theory is also at variance with observable phenomena : 
 and we ought not, therefore, to shrink from trying the question by 
 these*' 
 
 " Galileo was told, from high authority in the church, that his doc- 
 trine of the revolution of the globe was obviously at variance with 
 scripture, and that therefore it could not be true : but as his opinions 
 were founded on palpable facts, which could be neither concealed 
 nor denied, they necessarily prevailed. If there had been a real op- 
 position between scripture and nature, the only result would have 
 been a demonstration that scripture, in this particular instance, was 
 erroneously interpreted ; because the evidence of physical nature is 
 imperishable and insuperable, and cannot give way to any authority 
 whatever. The same consequences will evidently happen in regard 
 to phrenology. If any fact in physiology does actually and directly 
 contradict any interpretation of scripture, it is not difficult to per- 
 ceive which must yield. The human understanding cannot resist 
 evidence founded on observation ; and even if it did resist, nature 
 would not bend, but continue to operate in her own way in spite of 
 the resistance, and a new and more correct interpretation of scrip- 
 ture would ultimately become inevitable. Opposition between sci- 
 ence and revelation I sincerely believe to be impossible, when the 
 facts in nature are correctly observed, and divine truth is correctly 
 interpreted; but I put the case thus strongly to call the serious at- 
 tention of religious persons to the mischievous consequences to reli- 
 gion of rashly denouncing, as adverse to revelation, any doctrine 
 professing to be founded on natural facts. Every instance in which 
 the charge is made falsely, is a gross outrage upon revelation itself, 
 and tends to lead men to regard scripture as an obstacle to the pro- 
 gress of science and civilization, instead of being a system of divine 
 wisdom, in harmony with all natural truth," 
 
6 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 being under any circumstances, to execute all its func- 
 tions free from pain. But, besides the obvious answer 
 that the objection applies only to one sex, and is therefore 
 not to be too readily presumed to have its origin in nature, 
 there is good reason to deny the assertion, and to ascribe 
 the suffering in question to departures from the natural 
 laws, in either the structure or the habits of the individu- 
 als who experience it." 
 
 We might multiply authority to any extent, to prove 
 the correctness of this opinion. Reasoning from analogy 
 with the animal kingdom— -the book of nature, the hand- 
 writing of God, which bears on every page evidence of 
 His wisdom and goodness, amply testifies to its correctness. 
 Comparative anatomy, also, which shows the difference 
 of capacity between the male and female pelvis, sustains 
 the opinion that nature has made ample provision for the 
 performance of the function of parturition unattended by 
 clanger or suffering. 
 
 The following extract from " Mrs. Gove's Lectures to 
 Ladies," supports the view last quoted, as to the effects 
 of wrong habits, in aggravating the pains and perils of 
 child bearing. 
 
 " Many lovely young women enter the married state 
 frail as the gossamer, from wrong physical training, un- 
 able to bear the slightest hardship, when it is their right, 
 by God's intendment, to be hardy and robust. They fall 
 victims immediately, and often the grave covers them 
 and their first born, and c mysterious Providence' heads 
 their obituary. Parent of wisdom ! shall such ignorance 
 forever shroud our world ? 
 
 " The functions of gestation and parturition are as natu- 
 ral as digestion ; and were mankind brought into a natural 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 7 
 
 and healthy state, we have reason to believe that these 
 functions would be attended with little, if any pain. But 
 the healthy tone of the nervous system is destroyed. 
 Diseased, convulsed, and erratic action is established by 
 the various abuses of civic life, and the most tender and 
 endearina; of all relations becomes a horror and a curse. 
 
 " I know many mothers who, with their husbands, have 
 adopted the ' Graham System,' or in other words, those 
 correct habits recommended in these lectures ; (that is, 
 attention to diet, exercise, and bathing freely and con- 
 stantly with pure cold water,) and these mothers have 
 abridged their sufferings in parturition from forty hours 
 to one hour, and have escaped altogether the deathly 
 sickness of the three first months of gestation. But 
 they avoided all excesses as far as possible. We 
 know that the Indians, the lower orders of Irish, and the 
 slaves at the South, suffer very little in childbearing. 
 Why is this ? God made us all of one blood. Is it not 
 that these, living in a less artificial manner, taking much 
 exercise in the open air, and living temperately, have 
 obeyed more of the laws of their being, and consequently 
 do not suffer the penalty of violated laws, as do our vic- 
 tims of civilization V 9 
 
 A manuscript, containing an account of the progress 
 and successful termination of an experiment for secur- 
 ing childbirth with safety, and almost without pain, pub- 
 lished in London, 1841, by S. Rowbotham,' author of an 
 " Essay on Human Parturition, &c." was sent to the 
 writer, requesting her to add her views on the subject, 
 and to prepare it for publication. 
 
 The request was cheerfully complied with, in view of 
 improving the opportunity of collecting and arranging in 
 
8 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 a popular form, information of such vital importance to 
 the health and happiness, not only of the present, but also 
 future generation of her own sex. For, however well-in- 
 formed and intelligent our countrywomen may be on other 
 subjects, the one under consideration is, to the majority 
 of them, shrouded in more than Egyptian darkness. This 
 state of things, however, cannot long remain. A spirit 
 of inquiry is abroad ; and in the present age of progress, 
 ignorance and prejudice must yield to more liberal and 
 enlightened views. The time cannot be far distant when 
 a knowledge of the functions of gestation and parturition 
 will be considered as necessary as those of digestion, cir- 
 culation, or any other natural law of the human sys- 
 tem. 
 
 A former copy of this work, which had been prepared 
 with much attention, research and labor, together with 
 the original manuscript, containing an account of the ex- 
 periment, were destroyed by the late fire in the Tribune 
 Buildings. Not being able to procure another copy, with- 
 out much loss of time, the writer will be obliged to give 
 a synopsis of the experiment from recollection. Fortun- 
 ately, however, two of the first pages of the manuscript 
 had been copied, and were thus preserved. 
 
 " While reading the article ' Age,' " says Mr. Row- 
 botham, " in the Penny Cyclopeedia, published by the So- 
 ciety for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, I was forci- 
 bly impressed by this paragraph : ' When first the human 
 embryo becomes distinctly visible, it is almost wholly 
 fluid, consisting only of a soft gelatinous pulp. In this 
 gelatinous pulp solid substances are formed, which gra- 
 dually increase and are fashioned into organs. These 
 organs, in their rudimental state, are soft and tender, but, 
 in progress of their developement, constantly acquiring a 
 greater number of solid particles, the cohesion °f which 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 9 
 
 progressively increases, the organs at length become 
 dense and firm. As the soft solids augment in bulk and 
 density, bony particles are deposited, sparingly at first, 
 and in detached masses, but accumulating by degrees ; 
 these, too, are at length fashioned into distinct oseous 
 structures, which, extending in every direction, until 
 they unite at every point, ultimately form the connected 
 bony framework of the system. This bony fabric, like 
 the soft solids, tender and yielding at first, becomes by 
 degrees firm and resisting. 5 
 
 " Mr. Rowbotham reasoned from this, that the firm- 
 ness and density of a foetus, depends upon the amount of 
 bony matter deposited, or entering into its constitution ; 
 and, as the foetus is built up, nourished and supported by 
 the mother's blood, the mother's blood must be the source 
 of bony matter which hardens and consolidates the foetus. 
 But blood is derived from food and drink — consequently, 
 if different kinds of food arid drink contain different pro- 
 portions of this bony matter, it follows, that according 
 to the kind of food which the mother subsists upon during 
 pregnancy, that is to say, according to the amount of 
 earthy or bony matter existing in it, will be the amount 
 existing in, or entering into combination with, her blood ; 
 and consequently, will the foetus be more or less firm and 
 
 resisting. 
 
 " Diet, then, is the principal thing. Exercise has a 
 favorable effect no doubt, but nothing more : it is not a 
 primary cause of either difficult or easy parturition. 
 
 " Many midwifes and experienced matrons admit, that, 
 not to indulge in eating and drinking more than is barely 
 necessary, retards the growth of the foetus, and thus con, 
 tributes to the safety of childbirth. 
 
 " Every mother knows," continued Mr. Rowbotham, 
 " that the cause of the extreme pain in the birth of a child, 
 is the consolidation of its bones while yet in the womb. 
 
10 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 Some persons may suppose that this consolidation is desi- 
 rable. But this is a mistake. For the free expansion, 
 beauty, and grace of its form, it is on the contrary desi- 
 rable, that the bones of the child should be in the state of 
 gristle, soft, elastic, yielding ; no less than to save suf- 
 fering to the mother. Many children are so much injured 
 at birth that they suffer through life in various ways ; 
 while it is often observed, that seven months' children 
 are remarkable for their size, grace, and general fine 
 form." 
 
 Mr. Rowbotham, having thus come to the conclusion 
 that no injury would result to the child, by this de-ossify- 
 ing system, endeavored to persuade his wife to enter into 
 his views, and test his favorite theory. 
 
 Although Mrs. Rowbotham had suffered severely in 
 two previous labors, she could not be induced to practice 
 the self-denial necessary to insure a safe and easy labor, 
 until six weeks, as it proved, previous to the expiration 
 of her time. At the period in which she commenced this 
 depleting system, she was suffering under all the evils of 
 pregnancy, which resulted principally from a plethoric 
 habit; as nausea, varicose- veins, vertigo or dizziness, yc- 
 companied by a disagreeable sensation of lassitude and 
 dullness, both of body and mind. These painful symp- 
 toms, however, were soon relieved by abstemiousness, a 
 simple diet, bathing, fresh air, exercise, and attention to 
 the healthy action of all the organs ; a regimen, in 
 the opinion of the writer, sufficient to account for the 
 easy labor that followed, independently of the theory 
 of her husband, in regard to the softening of the foetal- 
 bones. 
 
 In order fully to carry out her husband's views, Mrs. 
 Rowbotham abstained as far as possible from all articles 
 of food containing the phosphate of lime and magnesia. 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 11 
 
 Wheat, barley, beans, peas, rice, and all farinaceous 
 substances, Mr. Rowbotham stated, contained a much 
 greater amount of earthy phosphates, than fruits, vege- 
 tables, or even animal food. Fine wbeaten flour, whe- 
 ther used in the form of bread, cakes, pastry, or pud- 
 dings, was particularly objectionable, on account of the 
 large portion of earthy matter it contained. Milk, butter, 
 and cheese, were, for the same reason, to be avoided. All 
 kinds of fruits, on the contrary, were highly recommend- 
 ed ; more particularly acid fruits, such as lemons, oranges, 
 currants, grapes, &c. These, when used with sugar, 
 were not only highly nutritious and grateful to the sto- 
 mach, but served the important purpose of dissolving and 
 carrying off much of the earthy matter, unavoidably taken 
 with the food. 
 
 Water, and the different kinds of drink in which it en- 
 ters, as tea, coffee, beer, &c, were also put under inter- 
 dict by Mr. Rowbotham, as containing the constituents of 
 bone. In answer to the question that might be asked, as 
 to the means of allaying thirst, he stated that bis wife ex- 
 perienced no thirst after she had entered upon the temper- 
 ance system, except such as could be readily allayed by 
 juicy fruits; and that this system agreed well with her 
 health ; she felt cheerful, strong, and active, attended to 
 her domestic duties, and performed active household 
 labor, up to the very hour of her accouchement. 
 
 Certificates from the attendant physician and nurse ac- 
 companied these statements, showing the remarkable easy 
 labor, and rapid convalescence, of Mrs. Rowbotham. 
 Nor was the child a sufferer by this experiment ; for al- 
 though small and soft when born, it soon grew to 
 be a large, finely-formed, and perfectly healthy child. 
 Thus proving, to the entire satisfaction of Mr. Rowbo- 
 tham, the truth of the principle on which his theory was 
 founded. 
 
12 CHILDBIRTH 
 
 This experiment has terminated with equal success in 
 several cases in this country, although the writer is not 
 at liberty to mention names. 
 
 The investigations of modern chemistry have shed a 
 brilliant light upon many subjects hitherto considered ob- 
 scure and incomprehensible. The vital principle of ani- 
 mal heat is no longer a speculation — agriculture no longer 
 an experiment ; while the advantages which many of the 
 arts have derived from this science are almost invalua- 
 ble ; by its light order is evolved out of chaos, and all 
 the laws of matter discovered to be invariable and har- 
 monious. 
 
 With' all its splendid discoveries, however, modern 
 chemistry has added little to our knowledge of physiology 
 previous to the investigations of Liebig : to whose invalu- 
 able work, on " Animal Chemistry," we must now look 
 to elucidate the present subject. 
 
 " The combinations of the chemist relate to the change 
 of matter, forward and backward, to the conversion of 
 food into the various tissues and secretions, and to their 
 metamorphosis into lifeless compounds; his investigations 
 ought to tell us what has taken place, and what can take 
 place, in the body." 
 
 Accordingly, from these investigations we learn, that 
 the phosphate of lime and magnesia contained in the food 
 and from thence conveyed into the blood, cannot be con- 
 verted into cellular tissue, neither can these be consumed 
 by the respiratory organs, but that a portion of them is 
 deposited in the form of bone, and the residue, after per- 
 forming the important purpose of keeping up the peristal- 
 tic motion, is thrown out of the system. Hence, it ap- 
 pears probable, that if only those articles of food contain- 
 ing the least amount of the phosphate of lime or magne- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 13 
 
 sia were taken by pregnant women, the ossification of the 
 foetus in-utero might be retarded in such a degree as to 
 obviate the imminent danger at the period of parturition, 
 so frequently fatal to either mother or child. The writer 
 is perfectly aware that all reasoning apriora is without 
 value, and that carefully conducted and well observed 
 experiments only, can test the truth and utility of this 
 principle. 
 
 Meanwhile, the important question arises as to the ef- 
 fect which this abnormal condition of the bones may have 
 on the constitution of the offspring; as no mother would 
 be justified in guarding herself against pain at the ex- 
 pense of the health of her child ; for what are a few 
 hours, or even days suffering to her, in comparison to a 
 life of disease, debility, and pain to her offspring. 
 
 It is well known that many of the most fatal diseases 
 of infancy originate from a want of earthy matter in the 
 bones ; as rickets, mollities-ossiana, or softening of the 
 bones, and spina-biffida, a want of one or more of the 
 arches of the vertebre, thereby allowing the contents of 
 the spinal column to exude in the form of a tumor, which 
 is almost always fatal. A knowledge of such facts 
 should render every mother particularly careful of trans- 
 mitting even a tendency to those diseases to her offspring. 
 This un-ossifying system, therefore, may prove in the 
 hands of the timid and ignorant a source of infinite mis- 
 chief, in transmitting a weakly organized constitution, and 
 thereby enfeebling and deteriorating the race. There 
 are, however, many cases in which this system might prove 
 highly beneficial ; it should at all events be resorted to, 
 where there has been a succession of stillborn births, 
 caused only by the large size of the foetus. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no department of medical science which 
 can boast of more excellent treatises than Midwifery. 
 It is, therefore, much to be regretted that the many valu* 
 
14 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 able popular works, intended expressly for females, should 
 meet with so little attention. The time, however, cannot 
 be far distant, when a knowledge of the laws which gov- 
 ern the human system under all circumstances, will be 
 considered an indispensible branch of female education. 
 Hitherto palliatives and curatives have been the principal 
 means sought after and relied on ; but when more liberal 
 and enlightened views obtain — when the cobwebs of false 
 delicacy have been swept from society — when women are 
 taught the importance of a knowledge of the organic 
 laws, preventive and first principle will take their 
 place. 
 
 " The physical and organic laws," says Mr. Combe, 
 (l when truly discovered, appear to the mind as institu- 
 tions of the Creator ; wise and salutary in themselves, 
 unbending in their operation, and universal in their ap- 
 plication. They interest our intellectual faculties, and 
 strongly impress our sentiments. The necessity of obey- 
 ing them comes to us with all the authority of a mandate 
 from God. While we confine ourselves to mere recom- 
 mendations to beware of damp, to observe temperance, or 
 to take exercise, without explaining the principle, the in- 
 junction carries only the weight due to the authority of 
 the individual who gives it, and is addressed to only two 
 or three faculties — veneration and cautiousness, for in- 
 stance, or self-love, in him who receives it. But if we 
 be made acquainted with the elements of the physicial 
 world, and with those of our organized system — with the 
 uses of the different parts of the human body, and the 
 conditions necessary to their healthy action — with the 
 causes of their derangement, and the pains consequent 
 thereon ; and if the obligation to attend to these condi- 
 tions be enforced on our moral sentiments and intellect, 
 as a duty which is imposed by the Creator, and which 
 we cannot neglect without suffering punishment ; then 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 the motives to observe the physical and organic laws, as 
 well as the power of doing so, will be prodigiously in- 
 creased. It is only by being taught the principle on 
 which consequences depend, that we become capable of 
 perceiving the invariahleness of the results of the physical 
 and organic laws, acquire confidence in, and respect for, 
 the laws themselves, and fairly endeavor to accommodate 
 our conduct to their operation/' 
 
 The important principles which govern the health of 
 both mother and child during the period of gestation, are 
 fully explained in that most useful and excellent work, 
 " Combe on Infancy." 
 
 This author, also, explains the effect of the mothers 
 imagination and sentiments, on the mental constitution 
 of her offspring — a subject of the deepest interest to 
 mankind ; as on obedience or disregard to this important 
 law of nature, depend the happiness or misery of the do- 
 mestic circle ; the birthplace of the affections, the shrine 
 of the heart. Prosperity may shower its brightest gifts on 
 man — wealth and art may combine to beautify and embel- 
 lish his habitation — science and literature may elevate his 
 understanding and refine his taste- — the good and the wise 
 may court his society— he may be exalted to the highest 
 place in the gift of his countrymen : of what avail are all 
 these advantages, if his home presents a scene of corroding 
 anxiety, or humiliating mortification, caused by feeble, 
 sickly, or inefficient and badly organized children 1 Not 
 until the public mind is fully awakened to the importance 
 of the laws which govern a healthy action of mind and 
 body, and also the hereditary descent of intellectual and 
 moral qualities, can domestic happiness be predicated to 
 a moral certainty, or approximate to a more perfect state. 
 That order and law govern all matter, animate and inani- 
 mate, is too well established to admit of a doubt. Shall 
 it then be said, that so important a subject as the physical 
 
16 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 and mental constitution of our children, is a mere matter 
 of chance, the only depanment of creation not subject to 
 fixed and invariable laws ? Forbid it, every just appre- 
 ciation of the wisdom and goodness of a beneficent Crea- 
 tor ! 
 
 For the benefit of those who cannot procure the work 
 just alluded to, (it being nearly out of print) the writer 
 will extract from its pages much valuable counsel in re- 
 gard to the subject under consideration. 
 
 " The only circumstance which can explain or excuse 
 the indiffence shown by many mothers to the state of their 
 own health during pregnancy, is their entire ignorance of 
 the injury which they thereby inflict on their future off- 
 spring. Many a mother, who will not deny herself the 
 temporary gratification of a simple desire or appetite on 
 her own 'account, would be the first and firmest in resist- 
 ing the temptation, if her reason was fully convinced, 
 tha£ every transgression which she commits, diminishes 
 in so far, the chances of health of the being whom she 
 carries in her bosom. And such is unquestionably the 
 fact." 
 
 " A notion is very prevalent, that an unusual supply of 
 nourishing food is required during pregnancy, on account 
 of the rapid development of the new being in the maternal 
 womb. In some instances in which the general health, 
 digestive powers, and appetite improve during gestation, 
 an increased allowance of food becomes necessary, and is 
 productive of much advantage. But in the great majori- 
 ty of cases, when no such improvement takes place, and 
 the appetite is already more vigorous than the powers of 
 digestion, nothing but mischief can follow from increased 
 eating. 
 
 " It is true that substance is expended on the develop- 
 ment of the infant being in the mother's womb, but Na- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 17 
 
 ture herself has provided for that demand, by the suppres- 
 sion of the periodical discharge to which they are at other 
 times subject, and which ceases altogether when the age 
 of child-bearing is past; and, therefore, when during 
 pregnancy the health is good and the appetite is natural, 
 there is no need whatever of increasing the quantity or al- 
 tering the quality of the food which is found by experi- 
 ence to agree with the constitution, and nothing but harm 
 can result from attempting to " support the strength " 
 by too nutritious a diet. 
 
 " When, from mistaken views, a change is made from 
 a plain and nourishing diet to full and generous living, 
 and especially when the usual exercise is at the same 
 time diminished, a state of fulness not less dangerous to 
 the mother than injurious to the embryo, is apt to be in- 
 duced, or is prevented only by the digestive powers 
 giving way, which leads to much suffering from nausea, 
 heartburn, flatulence, inordinate craving, disagreeable 
 breath and perspiration, and other symptoms well known 
 to mothers as incapable of cure until gestation is at an 
 end. Where digestion continues unimpaired, and the 
 superfluity of nourishment is taken into the system, a ful- 
 ness and sense of oppression ensue, which infallibly lead 
 to mischief, when not timely relieved either by nature 
 or by art. Occasionally, bleeding from the nose or lungs, 
 or from piles, removes the impending danger. At other 
 times blood is purposely drawn from a vein to avert it ; 
 but now and then it happens, that nature seeks relief, by 
 attempting to re-establish the customary discharge from 
 the womb, and if she is aided in her efforts by any acci- 
 dental imprudence on the part of the parent, the attempt 
 will be successful, and accompanied probably by a mis- 
 carriage and a risk of life. In short, the fulness of sys- 
 tem thus imprudently induced, must have vent some- 
 where, and it will depend upon the existence of any local 
 
13 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 weakness or other accident, in what organ or in what way 
 the vent shall be effected, and with what extent of danger 
 it shall be accompanied. To the child, not less than to 
 the parent, its consequences are injurious, not only as en- 
 dangering premature birth, but as effecting the future 
 soundness of its organization : and it therefore becomes a 
 solemn moral duty of the mother, not to place herself 
 voluntarily in circumstances which may not only 
 defeat her fondest hopes of happiness, and leave her a 
 prey to broken health and endearing regret, but perma- 
 nently diminish the happiness of the offspring. 
 
 " But, while avoiding one error, we must be careful 
 not to run headlong into the other extreme, and sanction 
 an insufficient diet. Many of the lower orders surfer 
 grievously in this way, and from absolute inability to pro- 
 cure nourishing food in due quantity, give birth to feeble 
 and unhealthy children, whose whole life is a scene of 
 suffering, although, fortunately, they do not survive long. 
 This is, in truth, one cause of the physical inferiority of, 
 and greater mortality among the working classes ; and as 
 it almost necessarily leads to moral inferiority, as its re- 
 sult, it is one of the points which eminently deserve the 
 attention of the philanthropist and enlightened statesman.* 
 As well may we expect fine fruit and rich harvests from 
 an impoverished soil, as well-constituted children from 
 parents exhausted by physical exertion, and insufficient 
 food. It is in work-houses that the evil is seen in its 
 most glaring form. These are peopled by the children 
 of the lowest, most sickly, or most improvident parents. 
 From birth they 'are the worst fed, and the most misera- 
 bly clothed, and in consequence, their bodies are stunted 
 
 * [" In this country, happily, the working classes do not surfer in 
 the manner described in the text. They are in more danger of ex- 
 cess, than deficiency of food.'' — B.] 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 19 
 
 and weak, and their minds and morals impaired and de- 
 graded. If the children in any work-house are contrasted 
 with the children of even any common country school, 
 their physical and moral inferiority is seen to be very 
 marked, and in the expression of innate heartiness and 
 enjoyment peculiar to early youth, the difference is still 
 more striking. 
 
 " It is naturally the children of the poor who suffer 
 most from the inadequate nourishment of the parent during 
 pregnancy ; but those of the higher classes also suffer, 
 though in a different way. The system is duly nourished 
 only when the proper food in itself is also properly di- 
 gested : if the digestion be imperfect, no food, however 
 nutritious, will afford a healthy sustenance. Many mo- 
 thers m the higher classes, give birth to feeble and badly 
 developed children, from inattention to this fact. Fond 
 of indulging in every luxury, they eat unseasonably and 
 largely, till the powers of the stomach are utterly ex- 
 hausted, and digestion becomes so much impaired that 
 the food ceases to be nutritious. As regards the infant, 
 the result is the same, whether the want of nourishment 
 arises from want of food or want of digestion ; and hence 
 the duty so strongly incumbent upon the mother, of acting 
 like a rational being, for her infant's sake, if not for her 
 own. Morally considered, it is as culpable on her part, 
 to starve the infant before birth, by voluntarily impairing 
 her own power of nourishing it, as by directly refusing 
 it food after it is born. 
 
 " In all instances, the great aim ought to be, to act ac- 
 cording to the laws of the human constitution, and, con- 
 sequently, adopt the kind and quantity of nourishment to 
 the wants of the individual. Following this rule, we 
 shall find that while, in general, no increase is required 
 during pregnancy, there are, nevertheless, many females 
 who enjoy a higher degree of health in the married state, 
 
20 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 and especially during pregnancy, than they did before, 
 and in whom the appetite becomes more acute, only be- 
 cause digestion and the other organic functions are car- 
 ried on with greater vigor. In such cases, an improved 
 diet is not only safe, but natural and necessary ; and all 
 that is required is, not to push it so far as to impair the 
 amended tone, or oppress the system. The proper limit 
 can, in general, be easily determined by a little atten- 
 tion. So long as healthy activity of mind and body, ap- 
 titude for exercise, and regularity in all the animal func- 
 tions, continue unimpaired, there will be nothing to fear; 
 but if oppression, languor, or other indications of constitu- 
 tional disorder, begin to show themselves, no time should 
 be lost in taking the hint, and adopting the necessary re- 
 strictions.* 
 
 " There is no period of life at which it is of so much 
 consequence to observe moderation and simplicity of diet, 
 and avoid the use of heating food and stimulants, as du- 
 ring pregnancy. Not only is the general system then 
 unusually susceptible of impressions and disordered by 
 the slightest causes, but, in nervous constitutions, the 
 stomach is the seat of a peculiar irritability, accompa- 
 nied by a craving and capricious appetite, to which it re- 
 
 * [Doctor Dewees, in his valuable " Treatises on the Physical and 
 Medicinal Treatment of Children?' expresses himself on this point 
 in the following language : He had just mentioned the subject of 
 nausea and vomiting being such common symptoms in the early 
 period of pregnancy. " Now do these not most emphatically declare 
 that the system requires reduction, rather than an increase of fluids ? 
 or why should this subduing process be instituted ? It certainly can- 
 not be intended for any other purpose, since it is not only almost uni- 
 versal, but highly important when it occurs, as it would seem to add 
 much to the security of the foetus ; for it is a remark, as familiar as 
 it is well grounded, that very sick women rarely miscarry ; while, on 
 the contrary, women of very full habits are disposed to abortion, if 
 exempt from this severe, but it would seem, important process." — B»l 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 21 
 
 quires much good sense and self-denial on the part of the 
 parent, to refrain from giving way. Dr. Eberle notices 
 several remarkable instances in which indulgence in in- 
 digestible articles of diet produced excruciating colic, fol- 
 lowed by abortion, even so early as the fourth month. 
 During the latter stages of pregnancy, the risk from this 
 cause is greatly increased ; and, to long-existing intesti- 
 nal derangement, produced by a redundant, mixed, he- 
 terogeneous diet, the same author justly ascribes the ap- 
 pearance of a peculiar and highly dangerous affection, 
 resembling puerperal fever, which comes on soon after 
 delivery, and is characterized by a remarkable sinking of 
 the vital energies. In cases of this kind, the disorder of 
 health, previous to parturition, is not so striking as to ar- 
 rest attention, although perfectly obvious to experienced 
 eyes ; and when, after delivery, danger declares itself, it 
 is viewed with all the surprise and alarm of an unex- 
 pected event, although, in reality, it might have been 
 foreseen, and, to a considerable extent, guarded against 
 by a well-conducted regimen, and due attention to the 
 action of the bowels. 
 
 " If the public mind were only sufficiently enlightened 
 to act on the perception, that no effect can take place 
 without some cause, known or unknown, preceding it, to 
 which its existence is really due, many evils to which we 
 are now subject, might easily be avoided. If, for exam- 
 pie, women in childbed could be convinced from previous 
 knowledge, that, as a general rule, the danger attending 
 that state is proportioned to the previous sound or unsound 
 condition of the system, and to its good or bad manage- 
 ment at the time, and is not the mere effect of chance, 
 they w T ould be much more anxious to find out, and suc- 
 cessful in observing the laws of health, both for their own 
 sakes, and for the sake of the future infant, than they 
 now are, while ignorant of the influence of their own 
 
22 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 conduct. Accordingly, I entirely agree with Dr. Eberle, 
 when he says that " the pregnant female, who observes 
 a suitable regimen, will, caeteris paribus, always enjoy 
 more tranquility, both of mind and body, and incur much 
 less risk of injury to herself and child, than she, who 
 giving a free rein to her appetite, indulges it to excess, 
 or in the use of improper articles of food." 
 
 On the subject of longings for extraordinary kinds of 
 food, much caution ought to be exercised. Longings 
 rarely occur in a healthy woman of a well-constituted 
 mind. Indeed, they are almost peculiar to delicate, nerv- 
 ous, irritable, and above all, unemployed women, who 
 have been accustomed to much indulgence, and have no 
 wholesome subject of thought or occupation to fill up their 
 time. If they are indulged from the first, they gain 
 strength by what they feed on ; the whole mind becomes 
 centered on their contemplation, and the fancy is inces- 
 santly excited to produce new whims for their gratifica- 
 tion, to the infallible disturbance of the health of both 
 mother and child. Longing is a disease of the brain and 
 mind, much more than of the stomach ; and the way to 
 cure it is to provide the mind with wholesome occupation, 
 and the feelings with objects of higher interest, and to 
 give the stomach the plain and mild food, which alone, 
 in its weakened state, it is able to digest. In very ca- 
 pricious and confirmed cases, it is sometimes better to 
 yield temporarily ; but, even then, the main object, the 
 means of cure, ought never to be lost sight of. 
 
 " During pregnancy, the great aim, for the sake of 
 both parent and child, ought to be to sustain the general 
 health in its highest state of efficiency ; and in order to 
 attain this, the mother ought to pursue her usual avoca- 
 tions and mode of life, provided these be compatible with 
 the laws of health. Regular daily exercise, cheerful 
 occupation and society, moderate diet, pure air, early 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 23 
 
 hours, clothing suitable to the season, and healthy activ- 
 ity of the skin, are all more essential than ever, because 
 now the permanent welfare of another being is at stake, 
 in addition to that of the mother. But any of these, car- 
 ried to excess, may become a source of danger to both 
 mother and child. Dancing, riding, travelling over 
 rough roads, and vivid exertions of mind, have often 
 brought on abortion.* 
 
 " For many years past, common sense and science 
 have combined to wao-e war against custom and fashion 
 on the subject of female dress, and particularly tight- 
 lacing, and the use of stiff unyielding corsets ; but hith- 
 erto with only partial success. Of late, however, a 
 glimmering perception has begun to prevail, that the sub- 
 ject for which the restraint is undergone may be more 
 certainly attained by following the dictates of reason, 
 than by physical compression ; and if this great truth 
 shall make way, fashion will ultimately be enlisted on 
 the right side, and the beautiful forms of nature be pre- 
 ferred to the painful distortions of art. Already sounder 
 views of the nature of the human frame, added to the 
 lamentable lessons of experience, have convinced many 
 mothers that the surest way to deform the figure and pre- 
 vent gracefulness of carriage, is to enforce the use of 
 stiff and tight stays ; and the most effectual way to im- 
 
 * [Most practitioners of extended experience have met with cases 
 of delicate women, who have only been able to avoid a miscarriage 
 by taking regular exercise and attending to their domestic avocations, 
 in place of confining themselves to the house, or even to their cham- 
 ber, as they had been in the practice of doing before, but without its 
 protecting them from the misfortune they so much dreaded. 
 
 More harm is done by sudden efTorts, as in lifting, pulling, push- 
 ing, stepping with a bound, so as to light only on the fore part of the 
 foot, or by jumping, than by prolonged exercise, or even labor, though 
 neither of these is proper for persons unaccustomed to them. — B.] 
 
24 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 prove both, is to obey the dictates of nature in preference 
 to the inspirations of ignorance. It was not by the use 
 of tight bands and stays the classic forms of Greece and 
 Rome were fashioned ; and if we wish to see these pro- 
 duced, we must secure freedom of action for both body 
 and mind, as an indispensable preliminary. If the bod- 
 ily organization be allowed fair play, the spine will grow 
 up straight and firm, but, at the same time, graceful and 
 pliant to the will, and the rest of the figure will develope 
 itself with a freedom and elegance unattainable by any 
 artificial means; while the. additional advantage will be 
 gained, of the highest degree of health and vigor com- 
 patible with the nature of the original constitution, 
 
 " If, then, perfect freedom ought at all times to be pro- 
 vided for in the construction of female dress, it is plain 
 that during pregnancy it must be doubly imperative. 
 And, accordingly it is well remarked by Dr. Eberle, < the 
 custom of wearing tightly-laced corsets during gestation 
 cannot be too severely censured. It must be evident to 
 the plainest understanding, that serious injury to the 
 health of both mother and child must result from a con- 
 tinued and forcible compression of the abdomen, while 
 nature is at work in gradually enlarging it for the accom- 
 modation and development of the foetus. By this unnat- 
 ural practice, the circulation of the blood throughout the 
 abdomen is impeded — a circumstance which, together 
 with the mechanical compression of the abdominal or- 
 gans, is peculiarly calculated to give rise to functional 
 disorder of the stomach and liver, as well as to hemor- 
 rhoids, uterine hemorrhage, and abortion. The regular 
 nourishment of the foetus, also, is generally impeded in 
 this way ; a fact which is frequently verified in the re- 
 markably delicate and emaciated infants born of mothers 
 who have practised this fashionable folly during gesta- 
 tion, It may be observed, that since the custom of wear- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 25 
 
 ing tightly-laced corsets has become general among fe- 
 males, certain forms of uterine disease are much more 
 frequent than they were sixteen or eighteen years 
 
 ago.'* 
 
 " Hence it ought to be the first duty of the young wife, 
 who has reason to believe pregnancy has commenced, to 
 tjke special care so to arrange her dress as to admit of 
 the utmost freedom of respiration, and to prevent even 
 the slightest compression of the chest or abdomen. 
 
 " After these most judicious and forcible observations, I 
 need only add, that the evils of tight-lacing do not end 
 with the birth of the child. The compression further 
 prevents the proper development of the breasts and nip- 
 ples, and renders them unfit to furnish that nourishment 
 on which the life of the infant may entirely depend ; and 
 yet it is only when absolutely compelled to give way, 
 that many mothers, as pregnancy advances, loosen their 
 corsets sufficiently to admit of common breathing space, 
 and remove the unnatural obstacles of steel or whale- 
 bone, which Dr. Eberle has shown to be so injurious. 
 
 " But although I strongly advocate the propriety of 
 bringing up young girls without the use of such ill- 
 judged support, I by no means recommend that those moth- 
 ers, to whom long custom has rendered corsets necessary, 
 should at once lay them aside. They ought, however, to 
 be very careful to wear them sufficiently loose to admit 
 of the free enlargement of the womb in an upward direc- 
 tion, and to substitute thin whalebone blades for the stiff 
 steel in common use. If this precaution be neglected, 
 both mother and infant may be seriously injured, and 
 ruptures or other local ailments induced. To afford the 
 necessary support, a broad elastic bandage worn round 
 the body, but not too tight, will be of great service ; but 
 
 * Eberle on the Diseases and Physical Education of Children, Cin- 
 cinnati!, 1833, p, 9, - 
 
26 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 every approach to absolute pressure should be scrupu- 
 lously avoided. The Romans were so well aware of the 
 mischief caused by compression of the waist during ges- 
 tation, that they enacted a positive law against it ; and 
 Lycurgus, with the same view, is said to have ordained a 
 law compelling pregnant women to wear very wide and 
 loose clothing.* ^ 
 
 " In regard to regular exercise in the open air, the 
 greatest attention is requisite on the part of the mother. 
 Nothing contributes more essentially than this to a sound 
 state of health during gestation, and to a safe and easy 
 recovery after delivery. With ordinary care walking 
 may be continued almost to the last hour, and with excel- 
 lent effect upon all the functions. Hard riding on horse- 
 back, dancing, and every kind of violent exertion, ought, 
 however, to be scrupulously avoided ; as also fatigue, 
 damp, cold, and late hours. The early part of the day 
 ought to be selected in preference, especially in winter, 
 as there is always a degree of dampness at sunset which 
 is unfavorable to health. Riding in an open carriage is 
 a very useful addition to walking, but ought never to 
 supercede it. I have seen even delicate women pass 
 through the whole period of pregnancy and delivery with- 
 out a single bad symptom, merely from scrupulous but 
 cheerful observance of the laws of exercise and health ; 
 and it cannot be doubted that the degree of danger attend- 
 ing it depends very much upon the mother herself. 
 Childoearing is a natural and not a morbid process ; and 
 in the facility with which healthy and regular-living women 
 
 [* Beauty, grace, cheerfulness, a good temper itself, are all suffer- 
 ers from this practice of lacing and wearing corsets. The editor 
 may be excused from referring on this occasion to his work, entitled 
 " Health and Beauty y " in which this subject is examined, together 
 with all the other causes which influence the form and carriage. 
 —Bell.] 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 27 
 
 pass through it, we have abundant evidence that the Creator 
 did not design it to he necessarily a time of suffering and 
 danger. Where the mode of life and the habitual occu- 
 pations of the mother are rational, the more nearly she can 
 adhere to them during pregnancy, the better for herself, 
 and consequently the better also for her infant. 
 
 66 Cleanliness and fresh air are important aids to health 
 at all times, and doubly necessary during gestation. 
 Hence the propriety of having recourse to a tepid bath 
 every few days, especially in the case of females of the 
 middling and higher classes, in whom the nervous system 
 is unusually excitable. It promotes the healthy action 
 of the skin, soothes the nervous excitement, prevents in- 
 ternal congestion, and is in every way conducive to health. 
 But it must not be either too warm, too long continued, or 
 taken too soon after meals. For the cautions which its 
 use requires, I must refer the reader to my former work, 
 as it would be out of place to repeat them here.* 
 
 " Other circumstances might be mentioned as influenc- 
 ing the mother's health, and indirectly that of the child ; 
 but as they have reference to her only, in common with 
 other individuals, and therefore come under the head of 
 general laws of health, I need not now enlarge upon 
 them. Many sensible people, who have not thought on 
 the subject, may be surprised at the earnestness with 
 which I have thus recommended attention to the mother's 
 state as the surest way of influencing the health of the 
 child ; but let them observe and reflect upon what is pass- 
 ing around them, and they will meet with many proofs 
 of the principle which I have been enforcing, and soon be 
 induced to admit its importance." 
 
 All the authors, in this department of medical science, 
 
 * Principles of Physiology applied to Health and Education, chap. 
 III.— [Also, Bell on Baths and Mineral Waters.] 
 
28 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 of the present age, concur in opinion, as to the importance 
 of regimen during the period of gestation. The following 
 remarks coincide perfectly with the preceding, and are 
 worthy of high consideration, as eminating from the best 
 possible authority — " Dr. Gilman, Professor of Obstetrics, 
 in the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons." 
 
 ''-Regimen of Pregnant Women. — This is a most impor- 
 tant subject, but physicians are not as frequently con- 
 sulted about it, as they might be with advantage, perhaps 
 — because, when consulted they make light of it. 
 
 " Diet. — This should be light, not very nutritious, and 
 rather laxative. Nature in most cases points out this 
 course ; the appetite is for fruits, vegetables, and the light- 
 er meats, while gross food, such as goose, pork, fat, &c. 
 are loathsome. Follow here the dictates of nature, let 
 the patient take vegetables, and especially fruits, freely, 
 and abstain from gross articles, from highly seasoned 
 meats, and from stimulating drinks. These rules are 
 most appropriate for the first four months ; after quicken- 
 ing, when the digestion improves, a rather more nutritious 
 diet may be allowed, but as the patient approaches the 
 term of her gestation, the diet should again be light. Dr. 
 Delafield, my predecessor in the professorship of obstet- 
 rics, gives it as the result of his experience, that women 
 generally do best, when before they fall into labor, the 
 system is reduced to a little below par, for this purpose 
 he lowers the diet, and gives occasional laxatives during 
 the ninth month. This, as has been said, is an excellent 
 practice. Articles likely to produce flatulency are to be 
 avoided at this time. 
 
 "Influence of Atmosphere in Pregnancy. — This is well 
 established ; cold, rainy weather, and low, damp mias- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 29 
 
 matic localities, have been recognized since the time of 
 Hippocrates, as disturbing pregnancy and causing abor- 
 tion. To the influence of the atmosphere is to be attrib- 
 uted the frequency of abortion, miscarriage, or rather 
 mishap in pregnancy, by which some years are signalized. 
 Miasma is, probably, the unsuspected cause of many 
 abortions, and when this unpleasant accident recurs fre- 
 quently to a woman residing in a low, damp, or miasmatic 
 district, she should remove during pregnancy. 
 
 " Exercise.— This should be strongly insisted ; none of 
 the means of preserving the health of pregnant women 
 are more valuable than this. It should always be taken 
 in the open air, and carried so far as to produce fatigue, 
 but not absolute exhaustion. As to the kind of exercise, 
 walking is best, riding in an open carriage will do well ; 
 horseback exercise is not to be permitted, unless the pa- 
 tient be very well accustomed to it, ride well, and have 
 a gentle horse. 
 
 • Nothing is so likely to overcome the persistent in- 
 somnia,* with which some women are troubled towards 
 the* close of pregnancy, as to exercise in the open air, 
 carried to fatigue ; this, with warm-bath, will do more 
 than all the anodynes you can give. 
 
 " Dress,— -The great thing to be avoided is tightness. 
 Anything that compresses the body, and obstructs circu- 
 lation, does harm. Inflammation of the mammae is 
 sometimes excited by the exposure of the parts to cold, in 
 consequence of the dress being too low. This should be 
 avoided, and the patient induced to dress decently. 
 
 " Pregnant women should never be allowed to witness 
 any scene that will be likely, very powerfully to excite, 
 alarm, or distress them — the evil influence of rash impres 
 
 * Sleeplessness, 
 
30 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 sions is well established. Even the more exciting pleas- 
 ures of life, they should partake of sparingly, as balls, 
 parties, theatrical exhibitions, &c." 
 
 While thus showing the physical causes and external 
 circumstances which affect the health of pregnant women, 
 we must not overlook the moral causes of evil to which 
 this condition is peculiarly susceptible. During the first 
 months of gestation, and immediately after parturition, 
 (owing in the latter case to the severe depletion of the 
 vascular system,) the nervous temperament predominates, ' 
 and the mind is thus rendered susceptible in the highest 
 degree to impressions from moral causes. An unkind 
 word, a cold or severe look, or even apparent neglect, 
 will frequently, in this state of health, derange the whole 
 physical system, prostrate the most promising state of 
 convalescence, and set medical skill at defiance. Nor 
 does the evil end here. A deep sense of injury and 
 wrong is engendered, and the hitherto sweet sources of 
 domestic happiness, affection and confidence, are embit- 
 tered for life. If, however, in this morbid condition of 
 the system, unkindness and neglect are more keenly felt, 
 so, also, the kind offices of affection are doubly appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 The injurious effects of moral impressions on the health, 
 are thus forcibly described by Dr. James Johnson : 
 
 " The moral impressions on the brain and nerves are 
 infinitely more injurious than the physical impressions of 
 food and drink, however improper, on the stomach. The 
 multifarious relations of man with the world around him, 
 in the present era of social life, are such as must inevit- 
 ably keep up a constant source of perturbation, if not irri- 
 tation ; and this trouble of mind is not solely, or even 
 chiefly, expended on the organ of the mind, viz., the brain, 
 and its appendages, the nerves, but upon the organs of the 
 
CHILDBIRTH. SI 
 
 body most intimately connected with the brain— namely, 
 the digestive organs, including the stomach, liver, and 
 bowels. 
 
 " Let us exemplify this. A man receives a letter com- 
 municating a piece of astounding intelligence — great loss 
 of property, or death of a child, wife, or parent. The 
 mind, the brain, the nervous system, are all agitated and 
 disturbed. But the evil does not rest here. The organs 
 not immediately under the will, or directly connected with 
 the intellectual portion of our frame — the organs of diges- 
 tion, circulation, nutrition, &c, are all consequently dis- 
 turbed, and their functions disordered; the tongue turns 
 white, the appetite fails, and the complexion grows sallow. 
 These corporeal maladies are those which naturally at- 
 tract most the sufferer's attention. He seldom compre- 
 hends, or even suspects, the nature and agency of the 
 moral cause. He flies to physic ; and it may very easily 
 be conceived that he generally flies to it in vain !" 
 
 The following letter from Mrs. P. S. Wright was not 
 received in time for the work for which it was intended ; 
 but as the facts and observations apply equally to the 
 present work, the writer takes the liberty of giving it en- 
 tire ; although perfectly aware that some of the opinions, 
 being in advance of the age, may prove unpopular : 
 
 July 3, 1844. 
 
 Dear Madam : It was with sincere pleasure that I 
 learned from yourself that you were to republish and en- 
 large your valuable work, on the transmission of parental 
 qualities. That the circulation of that work should be 
 greatly extended is my sincere desire, and in compliance 
 with your request, I send you a few facts which have 
 come within the range of my own observation. 
 
 That the subject of which your work treats is one of 
 immense importance to the rising generation, no one can 
 
32 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 dispute ; but that the child takes more in its mental con- 
 stitution and temperament of the father than the mother, 
 I am somewhat inclined to think. That the physical 
 constitution is derived or controlled almost exclusively by 
 the mother, appears to me self-evident. 
 
 Physiologists reason from analogy ; and the facts estab- 
 lished with regard to some animals, such as in their phy- 
 sical organization most resemble man, may be considered 
 as finger-marks pointing to some similar law which gov- 
 erns the human family. Combe (I think it is, although I 
 have not the author here to refer to) says that in the gen- 
 eration of the horse, in order to produce vigorous and 
 sprightly offspring, the sire should be actively exercised. 
 Hence we may properly reason, that if a father is dull, 
 heavy, and stupid habitually, or even at the time of gen- 
 eration, the child will partake of his mental temperament 
 to a greater or less degree. I will here cite one or two 
 facts in elucidation of my position. A mother of my 
 acquaintance, now somewhat advanced in years, gave 
 me the following relation : 
 
 " I was/' said she, " married at the age of twenty-five, 
 inheriting from both my parents a most vigorous consti- 
 tution. My husband was four years my senior, and alike 
 blessed with most perfect health. But we started wrong 
 after all, for we both determined to be rich, let what 
 would come. We occupied a large farm, and I in my 
 eagerness to amass wealth, which has been as a canker 
 to my happiness, would never employ help for a day, 
 frequently doing all the labor for a family of twenty 
 during the period of gestation. My first children were 
 twins. My living at the time was what is commonly 
 called the plain living of farmers, but what I now con- 
 sider as much too luxurious for health. 
 
 " Previous to my accouchement a cutaneous eruption 
 appeared, on my face, neck; and hands, together with 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 33 
 
 swelling of the joints. This I looked upon as the effect 
 of heat, which would soon pass off; but what was my 
 disappointment, at the birth of my babes, to have present- 
 ed to me two emaciated little beings, covered with the 
 same eruption, which proved to be scrofula induced by 
 heating my blood with wrong living. I had most ardently 
 desired children, and my love of riches gave way to my 
 maternal feelings ; but in less than four months both the 
 little sufferers were carried to their resting-place. I re- 
 garded myself as stricken of God ; I sought to submit to 
 my trying fate as a Christian, for I did not regard myself 
 as having had anything to do with my affliction. A third, 
 fourth, and fifth child followed, diseased in the same way, 
 and only lingered for a short period. At length my de- 
 sires were gratified in everything except living children. 
 I wept and prayed much for a child that might bless our 
 old age. 
 
 At length the illness of a beloved parent called me to 
 a different scene, and during almost the entire period of 
 pregnancy with my sixth child, I was occupied in her 
 care, Being no longer actively engaged, having scarcely 
 sufficient exercise for my health, my mind turned natu- 
 rally to investigating the causes that had co-operated to 
 produce such painful results, if causes there were. Does 
 God, I asked, arbitrarily punish us in this world for in- 
 fringements of his moral law 1 jf so, of what use is the 
 atonement or death of Christ*? Then first dawned upon 
 my mind the belief that there were natural as well as 
 moral laws given to govern us, and that an infringement 
 of them would be followed by a just punishment. The 
 period of parturition arrived. Conceive, if you can, the 
 joy and gratitude of my heart to find myself the mother 
 of a fair and beautiful boy, which still lives to bless and 
 comfort me ; but although he lives, and the three daugh- 
 ters which followed him, yet they too partake of the feeble 
 
34 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 constitution which I have entailed upon them ; for my 
 own health had become greatly impaired during my 
 struggle after riches." 
 
 I will here give my own observations of the family in 
 question, The mother was a woman of fine mental and 
 moral organization, with the exception of her large acquis- 
 itiveness, and of an active nervous temperament. Her 
 superior mental endowments are proven by her having 
 thought so correctly, more than twenty years since. The 
 father had retained his fine natural constitution, but he 
 was an exceeding dull heavy man of the lymphatic tem- 
 perament. The children, particularly the daughters, 
 were much like the father in mind, and it was often re- 
 marked, that were it not for the broad fields, and accumu- 
 lating interest money, they would be a very dull family. 
 Another illustration proving the almost unlimited con- 
 trol of a mother over the physical organization of her 
 child, I will here cite : Mrs. B. a lady moving in a fash- 
 ionable circle in one of our large cities, possessing a fine 
 natural constitution and good mental organization, became 
 enciente soon after marriage. Wishing to enjoy society 
 as long as possible, she habitually laced herself so tight 
 as to conceal her situation for six or. seven months. 
 
 Her three first children were sickly and weak, weigh- 
 ing not more than three or four pounds at birth. In the 
 first period of gestation with her fourth child, an accident 
 occurred which prevented h£r desiring to enter society, 
 consequently her corsets were abandoned, and as she 
 was cut off from the brilliant festivities of the winter, she 
 resorted to reading. I should have mentioned that she 
 had suffered exceedingly in parturition. Her husband, a 
 man of excellent sense, placed in her hands physiological 
 works, and she, seeing her gross neglects of duty, resolved 
 to fit herself for the high sphere of a mother. She fol- 
 lowed the light as she received it, and the result was a 
 
CHILDBIRTH, 35 
 
 great diminution of suffering in giving birth to a fine boy, 
 weighing nine pounds. 
 
 She often remarks that it would be less trouble to train 
 half a dozen such than one like her first children. Oh, 
 said she, (for she had the tender feelings of a mother) I 
 have done to those little ones, an injury that a whole life 
 can never repair ! * * That the world is 
 
 to be regenerated, physically, mentally, morally, is a the- 
 ory that has ever appeared most delightful to my mind ; 
 not that I have ever expected any miracles wrought to 
 bring it about, but that it would be done by natural 
 means, and that the investigation of subjects treated of in 
 this work are to do much towards accomplishing this ob- 
 ject, I have not a doubt. 
 
 But there is one exceedingly delicate point which, in the 
 first edition, is not alluded to, and as it has so strong an 
 influence upon the purity of unborn generations, I feel 
 myself constrained to give it least a passing notice : 
 
 The father can have no influence directly over the 
 foetus after its formation ; it is then the mother's exclusive 
 prerogative to nourish and cherish the being she carries. 
 What character then, should the father desire to fix upon 
 his child ? Should it be that of gross licentiousness ? Nay ! 
 Then let the father as well as the mother be pure-hearted. 
 Let both utterly repudiate t"he almost unlimited marked 
 licentiousness that now prevails. Let them nev^r come 
 together, but for the great purpose for wln^h marriage 
 was at first instituted. 
 
 Let these principles be adopted and carried out, to- 
 gether with a course of living, and the great work of pu- 
 rifying the world is accomplished. Hitherto reformers 
 have been dabbling with effects, while the great cause 
 or causes have been left untouched. In proof of the last 
 principle advanced, let me cite a case just in point : 
 
 J. P. finished early his college course, and with a ra- 
 
36 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 pidity surpassing even the most sanguine hopes of his 
 friends, acquired the profession of law. The evening that 
 he was admitted to the bar saw him the husband of a 
 lovely and pure-hearted woman. He rose in his profes- 
 sion with a rapidity unequalled, but his wife drooped in 
 spirits and health, her happiness had been evanescent as 
 the dew, for she had too late learned that her husband, 
 like his father, was a profligate, licentious man. A few 
 months previous to the birth of their son he had abandoned 
 the young and tender wife. That son. at the age of nine- 
 teen, when I first knew him, was the most briliant young 
 man in mind, the most noble in form and feature of any 
 person I had ever known, but he was pursuing a reckless 
 licentious course, and was self indulgent in all his appe- 
 tites, to a degree almost unparalleled. This child was 
 trained, with the exception of proper physical training, 
 (and that was the great point which ruined him) with great 
 care. Often after receiving a letter from his mother, in 
 which she gave excellent advice, and much religious 
 council and exhortation, have I known him to shut him- 
 self up for days, and fast and pray, and weep like an in- 
 fant over his transgressions. I have heard him make the 
 most solemn promises iefore God of entire reformation. 
 Again and again, I have seen this strong man bowed for 
 ^ays to the very earth under a sense of his transgressions. 
 
 But when he went forth it was to eat and drink, and 
 again to go out and commit the same sins, perhaps to a 
 more fearful extent. 
 
 Now, did not that father stamp his character upon his 
 child most perfectly. The mother was a noble, highly- 
 gifted woman, but the baser passions of the father were 
 stronger than the moral ones of both. But had one-hali 
 of the study of the mother been directed to acquiring a 
 knowledge of the laws of nature, she might have saved 
 him much suffering ; she might have given to his consti 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 37 
 
 tution a shield that would have protected him from temp- 
 tations to which he was exposed. For she would have 
 taught him, that by living on a mild unstimulating diet, 
 together with bathing, air, and exercise, those baser 
 passions might be controlled, and brought into due sub- 
 jection to his higher nature. But ignorantly she fed the 
 volcanic fires in him, which in after life she vainly sought 
 to quench. 
 
 She loved, when her fair boy came home from school, 
 to have something prepared to please and pamper his vi- 
 tiated appetite. Thus she, like thousands of others, took 
 the most sure means to prevent an answer to her daily, 
 nay, almost hourly prayer, that God would keep pure 
 her son. Would that parents, when they surrounded their 
 luxurious boards, furnished with tea, coffee, flesh, meats, 
 condiments, &c. and lift up their voices, and ask of God 
 to bless that food to the strengthening of their bodies, and 
 then rise with those bodies stimulated and unnaturally 
 excited, and their spirits grovelling and fleshly, could but 
 see their inconsistency. To a mind truly enlightened, 
 such scenes are most revolting. It savors strongly of 
 pagan idolatry. It is at least mocking God with lip-ser- 
 vice, while the heart is so debased, low, and sensual, that 
 the higher natures are dormant, their religion sensualism. 
 Their God is like themselves. 
 
 I have no hope for the purifying of the world, but 
 through those who have learned to look at these subjects 
 n their true light. 
 
 Yours, with sincere respect, 
 
 P. S. W. 
 
 In the treatment of so important a subject as that of 
 alleviating human suffering, it were inexcusable to over- 
 look any system, however new or unpopular, which has 
 in view this important object. Hydropathy, or the water 
 cure, therefore, claims our particular attention. 
 
38 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 This system, however, merit's consideration not only 
 on account of its inherent principles of truth and practi- 
 cal utility, but also on account of the high character and 
 talent enlisted in its dissemination throughout Europe 
 and our own country. 
 
 The following cases, taken from the " Water-Cure 
 Journal," show the favorable influence which this treat- 
 ment exerts in pregnancy and child-bearing : 
 
 WATER-CURE IN CHILD-BEARING. 
 
 The following remarkable case might by many be reck- 
 oned as one forming an exception to the general rule, as to 
 what would be the general result under similar circum- 
 stances. In reality, striking as the case is, it is only an 
 exemplification of what has frequently been proved, that it 
 is possible for women of ordinary health so to live that 
 childbirth and the period of pregnancy can be rendered 
 comparatively free from pain and suffering. 
 
 A lady of this city, whose name from motives of deli- 
 cacy, we are not at liberty to mention, of 17 years of age, 
 small form, with very good constitution, was lately with 
 child, and passed through the whole period as follows : 
 She took regularly a shower bath every morning, exer- 
 cised every day, wet or dry, in the open air, and when by 
 any means, the amount of exercise was considerably less 
 than common, a quick bath was taken before dinner, and 
 regularly a sponge or rubbing bath was used before going 
 to rest. Sitz baths were taken daily and the body bandage 
 worn much of the time. No permanent chill was allowed 
 to take place. The evening sitz bath seemed to have a 
 decided effect in causing sound rest. The bowels were 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 39 
 
 kept free by clysters of cold water whenever these were 
 necessary. Very plain vegetable and farinaceous food 
 and fruits constituted the sole diet. The meals were li^ht, 
 and for three months previous to confinement, the supper 
 was always omitted, so that only two light meals were 
 taken daily and no food between times. Drinking of 
 water is a powerful means to reduce the inordinate crav- 
 ing appetite with which many are afflicted in childbear- 
 ing. In the case of this lady no other drink than pure soft 
 Croton water was taken during the whole time. 
 
 As the expected time drew near, one morning while in 
 the sitting bath labor commenced. The pains were prompt, 
 and in about twenty minutes a fine healthy child was 
 born. In about ten minutes more the after-birth came 
 away, followed with but little flowing of blood. The pa- 
 tient was allowed to rest a short time, after which the 
 body was sponged over and quickly made dry and com- 
 fortable. Wet cloths were laid upon the breasts to pre- 
 vent inflammation or undue swelling of the parts*: A wet 
 bandage was also placed about the abdomen covered with 
 a dry one, so as to be of comfortable temperature. The 
 sponging, rubbing and bandages were the means of re- 
 ducing the feverish excitement caused by labor, and of 
 soothing the body in a remarkable degree, so that sweet 
 and quiet sleep soon followed. On the third day, water 
 having been used as the case seemed to require in the 
 mean time, the woman walked in the open air without in- 
 jury, but on the contrary with benefit. Daily exercise, 
 however, was previously taken, in the sick room, which 
 was at all times kept well aired. 
 
 In this remarkable case there was not a single scar left 
 upon the body, it being the first child, and the amount of 
 suffering was by far less than is often experienced in mere 
 menstruation, by women who do not bathe regularly and 
 adopt a generally correct hygenic course. Physiologic 
 
40 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 eally as well as morally, "wisdom's ways are ways of 
 pleasantness," and happy is that mother who understands 
 Nature's laws, and who has in them a confidence suffi- 
 cient to live accordingly. 
 
 It may be objected in reference to the above case, that 
 it would be unsafe for most females to attempt to carry 
 out a similar course to the one described. This is not 
 true. Every individual, old or young, sick or well, and 
 of either sex, should have at least, a daily bath. Who 
 would think of leaving for a single day the face and 
 hands unwashed 1 Those who have adopted daily bath- 
 ing, know well the comfort and advantages arising from 
 it. Nor is a rigid vegetable, farinaceous and fruit diet, 
 as was used in the above case, a dangerous one as many 
 suppose. On the contrary, such a diet judiciously select- 
 ed, is highly conducive to bodily vigor and comfort, and 
 renders one in all cases far less liable to disease of every 
 kind. All who will in every respect take a judicious 
 course, similar to the one described, will as certainly as 
 the sun shines, render their sufferings in child bearing, 
 very much less than by any other possible means that 
 can be adopted, and in most cases, so great will be the 
 benefit derived, that comparatively speaking, childbear- 
 ing will be unattended with suffering— be without pain. 
 
 The condition of the child in this case, was not less re- 
 markable than that of the mother. It was healthy and 
 vigorous, and as a natural result was far less liable to 
 disease than children generally are. It is not at all nat- 
 ural for one half of the race to die under five years of 
 age. If mothers and children were universally managed 
 as in the case above, mortality of infants and children 
 w T ould be comparatively unknown. 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 41 
 
 CHILDBEARING 
 
 "Of no one thing relating to physiology and medical 
 treatment, have those particularly interested, heen' so 
 ignorant as that indicated in the above caption. Woman 
 may study and know all the fashions and frivolities of 
 the day, and the art of perverting everything furnished 
 us for daily sustenance, by the All Good ; but to know 
 why and wherefore she suffers sorrow and pain and an- 
 guish and often death in the advent of a new being upon 
 our earth, is not to be thought of by any but a man mak- 
 ing a profession of physiological knowledge, which the 
 Indian woman of the forest would cause him to blush and 
 hang his head in shame for. Every woman ought to 
 know enough of the laws of her own physical being and 
 of generation, to avoid and prevent the cause of the evils 
 so generally attendant upon childbearing. And \o show 
 that it is possible to avoid these evils, just to the extent 
 that she conforms to the physiological law of purity and 
 health, 1 will give you a fact. 
 
 " Mrs. . about eight years since, had her atten- 
 tion directed to the subject of physiological truth and re- 
 form, and from that time has followed a generally cor- 
 rect course with regard to diet and general regimen. 
 During this time she has bathed daily. Becoming with 
 child the past year, she continued daily bathing the whole 
 period of gestation to the day of her confinement • and 
 the result was most happy. That which is to most wo- 
 men an hour of unutterable torture, was passed by her 
 with comparatively no pain or suffering. Her husband's 
 
42 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 knowledge of anatomy and physiology was all-sufficient, 
 and the presence of a physician was not required ; nei- 
 ther were all the old ladies in the house and neighbor- 
 hood called in to embarrass the patient with their pre- 
 sence and officious interference. It being early in the 
 morning, no one in the house was aroused or disturbed, 
 and quietude in the room, with no one present but the 
 husband, proved very favorable. Instead of castor oil or 
 drugs, cold water was the only thing given to mother 
 and child, and both were thoroughly bathed in tepid wa- 
 ter. The mother was not confined to her bed even a 
 whole day, and on the second day arose and bathed her- 
 self. In less than two weeks from the bu'th of the child, 
 the mother and infant rode thirty-six miles ; and in three 
 weeks went a journey of four hundred miles, with no in- 
 convenience. As the mother did not inherit constitutional 
 health adapted to produce so favorable a result, what but 
 a strict regard to bathing and conformity to the physio- 
 logical law in diet and dress could have produced such a 
 result ? She has lived for the last eight years on a fari- 
 naceous and fruit diet exclusively, abjuring tea, coffee 
 and flesh-meat. And she is confident that the use of 
 water as a beverage exclusively, and daily bathing, were 
 the most efficient means used. Its soothing and invigor- 
 ating power, after confinement, was very great." 
 
 INFLAMMATION & SWELLING OF BKEASTS. 
 
 " On the evening of the third day after my wife's first 
 accouchement, I came home from Guy's Hospital, where 
 I had been detained since morning, and found her groan- 
 ing and weeping with intense pain, the breasts red and 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 43 
 
 enormously enlarged, which the frightened nurse was 
 vehemently rubbing with brandy and oil. The skin was 
 excessively hot and dry, and the pulse was leaping along 
 at the rate of 120. It was in the month of January— so I 
 walked into the street with a pail, which I filled with 
 snow, and bringing it into the sick room, I piled a heap of 
 it over both breasts, continually adding fresh snow as it 
 melted. In a very few minutes the milk spun out in 
 streams, to the distance of more than a foot, and the tears 
 of torture were at once changed for those of pleasure, 
 accompanied by that hysterical sobbing, which is the 
 common result of a sudden transition from intense suffer- 
 ing to perfect ease. The mere absence of pain in these 
 cases takes all the characters of the most delicious and 
 positive pleasurable sensations. In half an hour the in- 
 flamation had subsided, the breasts had become comjmra- 
 lively flaccid, the fever had entirely subsided, and not 
 only all danger, but all inconvenience, had utterly van- 
 ished. But for this timely succor, suppuration must have 
 supervened in both breasts, and large abscesses would 
 have been the inevitable consequence." — Dr. Ed. Johnson. 
 
 Dr. Shew of this city informs the writer that he has 
 never known of an instance in which this painful affection, 
 swelling, or caking as it is called, of the breasts, could 
 not be wholly prevented ; that is, so that no troublesome 
 effects of the kind would follow childbirth. Dr. Shew's 
 mode is to direct females, some days before labor is ex- 
 pected, to make the application of wet bandages to the 
 breasts, these cloths to be of a temperature suited to the 
 feeling of comfort in the case, and to be applied as fre- 
 quently and continuously as is necessary to keep down 
 inflammation. He always in every case directs these 
 bandages to be applied immediately after labor, whether 
 there is any undue inflammation or not. To prevent 
 
44 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 evaporation, the bandages are to be covered with dry 
 flannel. They not only have a soothing effect upon the 
 breasts, and act to prevent inflammation, but aid also in 
 causing a healthy and natural secretion of milk. In cases 
 of sore nipples, it may at times, be necessary to use some 
 mechanical means to shield the effected or painful parts, 
 and perhaps some adhesive substance or plaster to keep 
 the cracked surfaces in a favorable situation for healing ; 
 yet nothing is so good for healing as pure clean water 
 rightly applied ; and in any case where the cracked parts 
 naturally remain in a good situation for becoming healed, 
 and are not subject by motion to have the cracked surfaces 
 re-exposed to the atmosphere, clean wet cloths are alone 
 sufficient, and also the best. _ 
 
 To prevent that extreme and troublesome nervousness 
 with which child-bearing females are sometimes troubled, 
 Dr. Shew recommends that wet bandages be worn fre- 
 quently, and especially at night. He relates the follow- 
 ing case : A lady of extremely irritable nerves, having 
 unfortunately a variety of moral causes acting to increase 
 that nervous irritability, as well as too much and irregu- 
 lar physical exertion while pregnant, found it exceedingly 
 difficult to obtain anything like sound and refreshing 
 sleep. A persistent nervous headache was also at times 
 present. The lady had been in the daily habit of shower- 
 bathing, but this headache had at one time become so 
 severe, that the bathing increased it, as is sometimes the 
 case in such instances. To prevent this severe headache, 
 and to cause sleep, the patient was directed to have a 
 heavy night-dress well wrung out of cold water, together 
 with cold bandages applied to the head, and the body 
 warmly wrapped in flannel blankets, with warm applica- 
 tions to the feet, as indicated by the feelings of comfort. 
 In a very short time after being enveloped, she declared 
 that the headache wholly left her, and, as is common in 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 45 
 
 such applications, a sound night's rest was enjoyed. In 
 the morning the shower-bath was taken as usual ; and 
 by wearing wet bandages over the whole body each night, 
 well bound on with woollen shawls, the headache and 
 nervousness were prevented, notwithstanding the unfavor- 
 able causes mostly remained. 
 
 The daily shower-bath and sitting-bath are highly re- 
 commended in cases of pregnancy, as producing a most 
 excellent effect. Clysters of water, either warm or cold, 
 are also to be frequently taken, to keep up a natural ac- 
 tion of the bowels. The following directions for their 
 application are taken from " Dr. Shew's Water-Cure. " 
 
 CLYSTERS. 
 
 " Cold or tepid water injections constitute an important 
 part of the treatment of pregnancy. " The bowels can 
 at any time be easily kept free, and the evils and un- 
 pleasantness of constipation, thus be at once removed. 
 This application is also of great service in all bowel com- 
 plaints. Severe diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera morbus 
 and cholic, can often be speedily arrested by this appli- 
 cation alone. In inflammation of the bowels it is of most 
 signal benefit. The author has, in different instances, 
 given immediate relief in this disease, when the bowels 
 had been for days obstinately closed, resisting the action 
 of the most powerful medicines. 
 
 " This application should be made with an instrument, 
 by which no air will be introduced into the parts. Air 
 often causes pain. It should always be carefully ex- 
 pelled by pouring the water through the instrument a few 
 times before it is inserted. 
 
^ CHILDBIRTH, 
 
 " The quantity of water to be used will vary. As much 
 as can be retained, be it more or less, can be taken. 
 The temperature is to be made according to the feelings 
 of comfort, never too warm or too cold. Many take cold 
 water. 
 
 " Some have a prejudice against this application, think- 
 ing that it will weaken the bowels like cathartic medi- 
 cine or cathartic clysters, but this is not true. Pure 
 water, rightly used in this way, strengthens. When con- 
 stipation proceeds from too great a degree of internal 
 heat, cold water injections are the safest and most effi- 
 cient remedy." 
 
 SITTING BATH 
 
 f Pregnant women receive much benefit from a constant 
 use of this bath. " A small tub of sufficient size, set 
 upon a very low stool, or anything by which it may be 
 raised a few inches, is quite sufficient. Unpainted wood 
 is the best material, metal being unpleasant and cold. 
 The water is used from one to five or six inches deep. 
 The length of time this bath is used, varies from a few 
 minutes to two .fcours or more. To avoid exposure to 
 cold, it is best to uncover only the part of the person to- 
 be exposed to the water. This bath is to Priestnitz of so 
 much importance, that it is prescribed to nearly or quite 
 every patient. " It has the effect of strengthening the 
 nerves, of drawing the blood and humors from the head, 
 chest, and abdomen, and of relieving pain and flatulency, 
 and is of the utmost value to those of sedentary habits. 
 It is sometimes well to take a foot bath, tepid or cold, at 
 the same time. If a large quantity of cold water were 
 used in this bath, it would remain cold too long, and thus 
 
CHILDBIRTH. ^ 
 
 drive the blood to the head and upper parts of the body, 
 which might be very injurious ; but the small quantity 
 of water used at once becomes warm, and thus admits 
 of speedy re-action. In some local diseases of the lower 
 parts, where there is inflammation, and the cold water 
 feels most agreeable, the water is frequently changed. 
 If there is any inclination to head-ache, or too much heat 
 in the head, a cold bandage upon the forehead or temples 
 is good. It is often well to rub the abdomen briskly du- 
 ring this bath. 
 
 " The sitz bath may be used by any person, whether 
 in health or otherwise, without the slightest fear of taking 
 cold. Let those subject to giddiness, head-aches, or con- 
 gestion of blood in the upper regions, try this, and they 
 will at once perceive its utility. 5 '' 
 
 In endeavoring to unfold useful truths in the language 
 of reason, the writer has felt no apprehension of offending 
 the natural delicacy of any well constituted mind. Ac- 
 tuated, also, by a deep sense of the misery arising from 
 the prevailing ignorance on this subject, she has not per- 
 mitted any false notions of delicacy to prevent her from 
 directing attention to the calm and deliberate examina- 
 tion of the bearing which the present ignorance has on 
 the health and happiness of the sex. 
 
 The reader who has followed the writer thus far, will 
 have become convinced, not only from the opinions and 
 high authority of the medical writers quoted, but also from 
 the facts and arguments which have been aduced, that 
 no truth is more apparent than this : That the degree of 
 suffering and danger at the period of parturition is entirely 
 dependent on the previous mode of life and habits of the 
 mother ; and also, that the sound or defective constitution 
 transmitted to her offspring will be the result of her at- 
 tention or inattention to the laws of health during the pe- 
 riod of gestation. 
 
48 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 When habits of indolence and luxury have been in- 
 dulged in, the appetite pampered to excess, and as a na- 
 tural consequence, the vascular system overcharged, to 
 the imminent danger of convulsions, of congestion of the 
 brain — it is vain for the imprudent sufferer to call in the 
 aid of science ; it is then too late to avert the fatal errors 
 of ignorance or self-indulgence. No human power can 
 save both mother and child ! 
 
 The necessity for the use of the numerous instruments 
 of torture and death, so common in the practice of Mid- 
 wifery, has arisen in a great measure, from the habits 
 referred to in the preceding paragraph. Yet we might 
 hope that every woman possessing the common feelings 
 of humanity, would inform herself of, and avoid the causes 
 which lead to the necessity of using implements so des- 
 tructive to infant life. A knowledge of the well-known 
 expedients resorted to in such cases of extremity — as the 
 breaking up of the infant skull, or the dismembering of 
 its tender limbs while quivering with life, should arm 
 every mother with sufficient resolution to practice self- 
 denial to any extent, in view of averting such fearful con- 
 sequences, and preserving the life of her child. 
 
 It is deeply painful to reflect upon the amount of infant 
 life sacrificed in such cases ; more particularly when we 
 consider in which class of society it generally occurs. 
 Not in that of the indigent, uneducated, and laborious ; 
 on the contrary, in that of the educated, refined, and af- 
 fluent ; who with these advantages possess the power of 
 transmitting an improved organization to their offspring, 
 and thereby promoting an evident design of the Creator — 
 the progress and improvement of the race. A subject 
 not yielding in interest and importance to any to which 
 the human mind can be directed. 
 
 Fortunately, this opinion is not new ; nor is it limited 
 as respects the number and intelligence of those who en- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 49 
 
 tertain it. That it is taking deep root in the public mind, 
 with the most gratifying rapidity, and promises to be pro- 
 ductive of invaluable fruit, appears from an abundance 
 of concurrent testimony, not only in the writings of our 
 own talented and philanthropic countryman, Dr. Cald- 
 well, but also in those of George and Andrew Combe ; 
 and in fact, all the observing and inquiring minds of the 
 present age, whose attention has been directed to the 
 subject. 
 
 The reader to whom these views may appear new, is 
 referred to the writer's late work on the " Transmission 
 of Intellectual and Moral Qualities from Parents to Off- 
 spring/ 5 * where she hopes that facts in proof of their 
 truth and utility, will be found sufficient to convince any 
 reasonable mind of the importance of this source of hu- 
 man improvement. 
 
 To illustrate this subject still further, and fortify the 
 sentiments just advanced she will subjoin the following 
 
 extract from the above work : 
 
 " The easy labor and speedy delivery of women of the 
 lower classes and of the Indian race, have occasioned 
 much discussion among physiologists. The true cause, 
 I apprehend, will be found in the want of size and devel- 
 opment in the heads of their children. 
 
 " In the statistical tables of Europe, lately published in 
 Paris, it is shown that there are three male children still- 
 born to two females. This result certainly cannot be the 
 effect of chance, but must have some physical cause ; 
 and this cause doubtless is the superior size of the heads 
 of male children. For it is well known that the human 
 head, male and female, vary as materially in form and 
 
 * Published by Taylor & Judd, Astor House. Price 37J cents. 
 
50 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 . size at birth, as at maturity ; and also, that difficult and 
 protracted labor, when the presentation is natural, and 
 there is no distortion of the pelvis,* is caused by the large 
 and firm skull of the foetus. 
 
 " There is an editorial note, in Croker's edition of Bos- 
 well's Johnson, which, with the aid of phrenology, sheds 
 much light on this subject. It is stated in the text, that 
 the mother of Johnson, had, at his birth, a very difficult 
 and dangerous labor, and that he was born almost dead. 
 To which Croker adds, that Addison, Lord Lyttleton, 
 Voltaire, and many other eminent men, were born almost 
 dead. That this peculiarity should have attended the 
 birth of so many gifted individuals, cannot be considered 
 accidental ; but rather an evidence of a more powerful 
 organization, resulting from an unusual development of 
 the brain, the organ of the mind. 
 
 " The truth of the preceding views has been corroborated 
 
 * Distortions of the spinal column, and the bones of the pelvis, are 
 more common among females of the middling and higher classes, 
 than is generally suspected. This dangerous condition of the system 
 is frequently caused by tight lacing in early youth, when the bQnes 
 are soft and yielding ; the viscera of the abdominal region being 
 pressed down on those unconsolidated bones, they give way under 
 the unnatural weight, and distortion is the result. The writer is ac- 
 quainted with a family of four sisters, born of healthy parents, of 
 course inheriting good constitutions. The eldest was adopted, when 
 quite young, by a rich relation, and educated at a fashionable board- 
 ing-school, where little attention was paid to the laws of health. 
 Want of fresh air and exercise, the excitement of going too early into 
 society, late hours, and tight lacing, soon undermined her constitu- 
 tion, and produced a lateral curvature of the spine. She, neverthe- 
 less, married young, and had numerous offspring. But each parturi- 
 tion was attended with excruciating suffering and imminent peril ; 
 nor has she ever given birth to a living child. The three other sis- 
 ters, whose education and habits were more in accordance with 
 nature, have each a large family of healthy children, born without 
 difficulty or danger. 
 
CHILDBIRTH 51 
 
 by much testimony, and was forcibly presented to my 
 attention by the circumstances attending the birth of two 
 children which came under my immediate observation. 
 The mother of one of them was about eighteen years of 
 age, of a phlegmatic temperament, indolent habits, and 
 educated for display. She was occupied during the whole 
 period of her pregnancy, in paying and receiving visits 
 of ceremony, in practicing music, embroidery, and other 
 fashionable accomplishments, and in endeavoring to at- 
 tain the reputation of a superior taste in dress ; her read- 
 ing was limited and confined to works of imagination. 
 She had neither inclination nor comprehension for any- 
 thing more profound than is to be met with in the pages 
 of the New- York Mirror, or the Parlor Visitor. Her 
 child was born at the full time, but so brief and easy was 
 the labor, that neither physician nor nurse was present. 
 It was plump and fat enough, but with a head diminutive 
 in size and soft in quality. 
 
 " Years have not altered those conditions ; the child in 
 intellect is below mediocrity, and the man will be the 
 same. In the other instance, the mother was past forty 
 years of age, of an energetic temperament, active habits 
 and self-educated. For some months previous to the 
 birth of her fifth child, she had become a convert to the 
 belief in the transmission of mental and moral qualities. 
 To test the truth of this belief, she exercised, her own 
 mental powers to their full extent. She attended the lec- 
 tures of the season, both literary and scientific ; read 
 much, but such works only as tend to exercise and 
 strengthen the reasoning faculties, and improve the judg- 
 ment. The domestic and foreign reviews, history, biog- 
 raphy, &c. She was also engaged in the active duties 
 of a large family, in which she found full scope for the 
 exercise of the moral sentiments, but never allowed any- 
 thing to disturb the equanimity of her temper. When 
 
52 CHILDBIRTH, 
 
 her time came, she was in labor two days ; all her suf- 
 fering, however, was forgotten at the birth of a son, with 
 a head of the finest form, firmest quality and largest size 
 — with the reflecting organs of a Bacon, and the moral 
 ones of a Melancthon. A head, in short, on which na- 
 ture had written in characters too legible to be misun- 
 derstood, strength, power, and capability, and of whom it 
 is already said, ' He is the youngest of his family, but 
 will soon become its head. 5 
 
 " But it may be said, the number of women is small, 
 who would be willing to encounter the extra pains and 
 perils of childbirth, induced by the training of the last 
 example. To such we can only say, that when they dis- 
 cover the minds of their children to be 6 unstable as wa- 
 ter/ with scarcely understanding enough to distinguish 
 good from evil, and not firmness of character sufficient to 
 pursue any steady course through life, in the anxiety and 
 unhappiness which such conduct occasions, they must 
 reap the punishment of their own want of moral and phy- 
 sical courage at the time when the exercise of those qual- 
 ities would have transmitted them to their offspring. It 
 is, however, my firm conviction, that if women would 
 study the structure of their own bodies, and the functions 
 of its different organs, and acquire some knowledge of the 
 principles of obstetrics, they might escape a great portion 
 of the present dangers and sufferings of childbirth : but 
 in the present system of female education, that branch of 
 knowledge which would enable them to raise a family of 
 healthy children with success, appears to be most ne- 
 glected. A friend of the authoress of good understand- 
 ing, active temperament, and sound constitution, married 
 in middle life, and has had two fine boys ; but from her 
 utter ignorance of the organic laws, lost them both. 
 
 " The birth of the first was attended by protracted and 
 dangerous labor, the child was still-born, but was resus- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 53 
 
 citated, and was a remarkably healthy and promising in- 
 fant. His sudden death at the age of thirteen months 
 was attended by very distressing circumstances, under 
 which the mother was sustained by the prospect of the 
 birth of another child in seven or eight months. Mean- 
 time, the mental anguish occasioned by the death of the 
 first child could only be alleviated by constant occupa- 
 tion of the mind. She, therefore, undertook an extensive 
 course of historical reading, varied by the study of men- 
 tal and moral philosophy, to which was added the physio- 
 logical and moral training of youth. The subject, how- 
 ever, of the most importance at that time — a knowledge 
 of the proper habits and course of life necessary to en- 
 sure a speedy and safe delivery, was forgotten. The se- 
 dentary habits induced by study protracted her time be- 
 yond the natural period, and her constant mental exer- 
 cise developed the brain of the child to an unusual de- 
 gree ; hence, the second labor was more difficult and 
 dangerous than the first. The attending physician be- 
 lieved, that c nature in a healthy subject was always able 
 to do her own work, 5 therefore, rendered her no assist- 
 ance except copious bleeding. Nature did, indeed, do 
 her own work, but she was so long about it, that a beau- 
 tiful male child, weighing twelve pounds, was killed in 
 the process. The unfortunate mother was then congratu- 
 lated on her escape with life, and was advised, if she val- 
 ued life, to pray that she might never have any more 
 offspring, for it was impossible for children with heads as 
 large and as firm as her's, to be born alive. To which 
 she answered, ' that life to her had no charms without 
 children, and that she was willing to undergo the same 
 three days suffering, and as much more as it was possi- 
 ble to survive, or even the Csesarian operation, for the 
 sake of a living child.' She immediately procured some 
 books of midwifery, from which she learned, that if she 
 
54 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 had, for six or eight weeks previously to the expiration 
 of her time, taken much gentle exercise in the open air, 
 lived very abstemiously and strengthened her system by 
 cold baths, nature would have been in a proper condition 
 to have done her own work ; or if she required some as- 
 sistance from her handmaid art, (which it was possible 
 she might, as this child could not have been called a 
 child of nature, in the same degree as that of the unedu- 
 cated peasant, or the untutored savage) it was more than 
 probable that a vapor bath might have relaxed the mus- 
 cles, prevented the cramps and chills, and facilitated the 
 labor to a successful issue, and she might have rejoiced 
 in the birth of a living child." 
 
 It is highly gratifying to the writer to add, that since 
 the publication of the above work, this lady has given 
 birth to a third son. By pursuing a course dictated by 
 reason and experience, that is, by attention to diet, exer- 
 cise, air, and bathing, she gave birth to a healthy living 
 child, with only two hours labor. Owing, also, to the 
 precautions taken as to exercise and diet, this child was 
 not as large by one-third as the previous one. 
 
 Such cases are truly encouraging, and should teach us 
 the importance of investigating the laws of nature for 
 ourselves ; and not to rely with blind confidence on the 
 opinions of others, or to acquiesce in a mode of practice 
 worthy of the dark ages. 
 
 Reason, observation, experience, and every considera- 
 tion bearing on this subject, unite in persuading mothers 
 to study the laws of health which govern the condition of 
 pregnancy, to appreciate their own responsibility in such 
 cases, and not commit so great an injustice to medical 
 skill, as to expect it to retrieve their errors, and carry 
 them safely through the process of parturition, independ- 
 ently of their previous wrong habits. It should, there- 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 55 
 
 fore, be engraved upon the mind of every mother, as with 
 a point of steel, that the degree of suffering and danger, 
 present at the period of parturition, will depend entirely 
 upon her mode of life and habits during the term of 
 gestation. 
 
 Before closing this little volume, the writer is impelled 
 by a sense of duty to add a few remarks on a subject of 
 the highest importance, both in a moral and physical 
 point of view, to the well-being of society. The practice 
 of procuring abortion, or, to use a less offensive expres- 
 sion, inducing a miscarriage, has of late become so com- 
 mon, that it requires to be placed before the public in all 
 its naked atrocity. From the increasing number of un- 
 principled persons who publicly advertise this destructive 
 practice, it is evident that it is extending to a fearful de- 
 gree throughout our country : some knowledge, therefore, 
 of the dreadful consequences attending such utter viola- 
 tions of nature's laws, may be useful. That the act of 
 procuring abortion is a crime of the deepest dye, on a par 
 with that of murder, no argument can controvert ; nor can 
 any, except the weak-minded or the vicious, be persuaded 
 to the contrary. Is it possible that any woman of sane 
 mind can look upon her living child, and admit for a mo- 
 ment that it would be a greater crime to deprive it of life 
 by violent means then, than it would have been while in 
 a state of embryo ? Many early married, unreflecting 
 females, to avoid the cares and responsibilities of a large 
 family, allow themselves to be deluded by the miserable 
 sophistry, that there is no harm, previous to quickening, , 
 in taking the most deadly drugs, or in making use of the 
 most violent means to procure abortion. Let them not, 
 however, thus deceive themselves, for whatever apparent 
 success may, for a time, attend these atrocious practices, 
 retribution is sure to follow such gross violations of na- 
 
56 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 ture's laws. The moral and physical institutions of a 
 wise and just Creator cannot be thus outraged with im- 
 punity — effect follows cause as unceasingly here as in 
 any other department of organic life. 
 
 Scarcely any misfortune to which humanity is liable, 
 is more to be dreaded than a natural tendency to miscar- 
 riage. How often has it been the bane of an otherwise 
 happy existence ? Its uniform evil effect, upon the gen- 
 eral health of the sufferer, is well-known and admitted : 
 and yet, strange perversity, an incredible number of fe- 
 males, in all ranks and conditions of life, are found, who 
 in their pitiable ignorance are willing, often for slight 
 personal considerations, to risk a constant liability to this 
 constitutional evil, and thereby commit, in an indirect 
 manner, the crime of self-murder. Among several cases 
 fresh in the memory of the writer is that of Mrs. W — — , 
 a woman highly respected for her piety, and in some re- 
 spects good sense, having borne four healthy children, 
 and thereby acquired a priceless treasure. Some plaus- 
 ible demon incited her to the use of these unhallowed 
 means, to avoid, in the cant phrase of the day, a too nu- 
 merous family. After five years of success, she is now 
 a helpless ruin, totally prostrated in her nervous system, 
 and entirely blind. And again, these days of modern re- 
 finement have given rise to another baneful practice. 
 The newly-married, youthful couple, must for a season 
 enjoy the butterfly-life of gayety proper to their condition 
 in the present improved scale of existence, to do which, 
 it is absolutely necessary to avoid the inconvenience and 
 cares of offspring. This can only be accomplished by 
 encouraging — harmlessly and for the present only, mind 
 you — a miscarriage, forgetting that this outrage upon na- 
 ture can only be inflicted by incurring the heavy liabili- 
 ty to the mother of permanent and irreparable injury, or 
 perhaps laying the train for a premature death. . 
 
CHILDBIRTH. 57 
 
 Thus it is with the family of R. — or, more properly 
 speaking, thus it is with that lonely, unhappy, because 
 childless couple, who, in their early marriage day, long 
 years ago, threw away, like the unbelieving Jew, the 
 pearls that would have enriched his tribe. 
 
 " In England,' 5 lately remarked a native of that coun- 
 try, "every mother feels proud of having reared a large 
 family of healthy, joyous children — ten or fifteen being 
 no unusual number. While the American mothers, I 
 observe, generally have small families, particularly in 
 the higher classes of society." An old and experienced 
 physician present significantly referred the speaker 
 to the glaring advertisements of certain quacks, re- 
 marking, that these fiends in human form escaped un- 
 whipped of justice, because the patronage they received 
 enabled them, when prosecuted, to employ the best legal 
 defence in the country ; and that their practice being 
 principally confined to the wealthy portion of the com- 
 munity, many a dark deed of iniquity has been conceal- 
 ed — the patients in such cases preferring any amount of 
 suffering, or even death, to the public exposure which 
 must ensue in bringing the criminal to justice. 
 
 In a subsequent conversation, this physician stated to 
 the writer, that many distressing cases of this kind had 
 fallen under his observation — cases in which it was clear 
 to the experienced eye of the physician, that the patient 
 had most ignorantly tampered with her constitution, in- 
 terfered with, and interrupted the natural functions of 
 her system. For after giving birth, at regular intervals, 
 to healthy children, the young and vigorous mother sud- 
 denly becomes sterile. Years pass, during which fre- 
 quent indispositions occur, leaving behind them a consti- 
 tution strangely shattered, and a nervous system in ruins. 
 The misguided sufferer at length perceives the dreadful 
 results of her practices, and desists — pregnancy ensues, 
 
58 CHILDBIRTH. 
 
 but the whole term of gestation is one of painful debility, 
 and at its close, in the effort for relief, outraged nature 
 denies the necessary energy : the patient sinks to the 
 tomb, another victim to the Moloch of selfishness, leaving 
 a family of young children motherless, to grow up in ig- 
 norance and tread the same path of error which led to 
 her destruction. 
 
 Oh, Justice! where is thy whip of scorpions to lash the 
 vile Charlatan, who thus makes a trade of death, naked 
 through the world ? 
 
 TH^ END 
 
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