Searchlights on Health: Light on Dark Corners Part 37

26. SALIVATION.--Excessive secretion of the saliva has usually been reckoned substantially incurable. Fasting, cold water treatment, exercise and fruit diet may be relied on to prevent, cure or alleviate it, where this is possible, as it frequently is.

27. HEADACHE.--This is, perhaps, almost as common in cases of pregnancy as "morning sickness." It may be from determination of blood to the head, from constipation or indigestion, const.i.tutional "sick headache," from neuralgia, from a cold, from rheumatism. Correct living will prevent much headache trouble; and where this does not answer the purpose, rubbing and making magnetic pa.s.ses over the {281} head by the hand of some healthy magnetic person will often prove of great service.

28. LIVER-SPOTS.--These, on the face, must probably be endured, as no trustworthy way of driving them off is known.

29. JAUNDICE.--See the doctor.

30. PAIN ON THE RIGHT SIDE.--This is liable to occur from about the fifth to the eighth month, and is attributed to the pressure of the enlarging womb upon the liver. Proper living is most likely to alleviate it. Wearing a wet girdle in daytime or a wet compress at night, sitz-baths, and friction with the wet hand may also be tried. If the pain is severe a mustard poultice may be used. Exercise should be carefully moderated if found to increase the pain. If there is fever and inflammation with it, consult a physician. It is usually not dangerous, but uncomfortable only.

31. PALPITATION OF THE HEART.--To be prevented by healthy living and calm, good humor. Lying down will often gradually relieve it, so will a compress wet with water, as hot as can be borne, placed over the heart and renewed as often as it gets cool.

32. FAINTING.--Most likely to be caused by "quickening," or else by tight dress, bad air, over-exertion, or other unhealthy living. It is not often dangerous. Lay the patient in an easy posture, the head rather low than high, and where cool air may blow across the face; loosen the dress if tight; sprinkle cold water on the face and hands.

33. SLEEPLESSNESS.--Most likely to be caused by incorrect living, and to be prevented and cured by the opposite. A gla.s.s or two of cold water drank deliberately on going to bed often helps one to go to sleep; so does bathing the face and hands and the feet in cold water. A short nap in the latter part of the forenoon can sometimes be had, and is of use. Such a nap ought not to be too long, or it leaves a heavy feeling; it should be sought with the mind in a calm state, in a well-ventilated though darkened room, and with the clothing removed, as at night. A similar nap in the afternoon is not so good, but is better than nothing. The tepid sitz-bath on going to bed will often produce sleep, and so will gentle percussion given by an attendant with palms of the hand over the back for a few minutes on retiring. To secure sound sleep do not read, write or severely tax the mind in the evening. {282}

[Ill.u.s.tration]

MORNING SICKNESS.

1. A pregnant woman is especially liable to suffer many forms of dyspepsia, nervous troubles, sleeplessness, etc.

2. MORNING SICKNESS is the most common and is the result of an irritation in the womb, caused by some derangement, and it is greatly irritated by the habit of indulging in s.e.xual gratification during pregnancy. If people would imitate the lower animals and reserve the vital forces of the mother for the benefit of her unborn child, it would be a great boon to humanity.

Morning sickness may begin the next day after conception, but it usually appears from two to three weeks after the beginning of pregnancy and continues with more or less severity from two to four months.

3. HOME TREATMENT FOR MORNING SICKNESS.--Avoid all highly seasoned and rich food. Also avoid strong tea and coffee. Eat especially light and simple suppers at five o'clock and no later than six. Some simple broths, such as will be found in the cooking department of this book will be very nouris.h.i.+ng and soothing. Coffee made from brown wheat or corn is an excellent remedy to use. The juice of lemons reduced with water will sometimes prove very effectual. A good lemonade with an egg well stirred is very nouris.h.i.+ng and toning to the stomach.

4. HOT FOMENTATION on the stomach and liver is excellent, and warm and hot water injections are highly beneficial.

5. A little powdered magnesia at bed time, taken in a little milk, will often give almost permanent relief.

6. Avoid corsets or any other pressure upon the stomach. All garments must be worn loosely. In many cases this will entirely prevent all stomach disturbances.

{283}

Relation of Husband and Wife During Pregnancy.

1. MISCARRIAGE.--If the wife is subject to miscarriage every precaution should be employed to prevent its happening again. Under such exceptional circ.u.mstances the husband should sleep apart the first five months of pregnancy; after that length of time, the ordinary relation may be a.s.sumed.

If miscarriage has taken place, intercourse should be avoided for a month or six weeks at least after the accident.

2. IMPREGNATION--Impregnation is the only mission of intercourse, and after that has taken place, intercourse can subserve no other purpose than sensual gratification.

3. WOMAN MUST JUDGE.--Every man should recognize the fact that woman is the sole umpire as to when, how frequent, and under what circ.u.mstances, connection should take place. Her desires should not be ignored, for her likes and dislikes are--as seen in another part of this book--easily impressed upon the unborn child. If she is strong and healthy there is no reason why pa.s.sion should not be gratified with moderation and caution during the whole period of pregnancy, but she must be the sole judge and her desires supreme.

4. VOLUNTARY INSTANCES.--No voluntary instances occur through the entire animal kingdom. All females repel with force and fierceness the approaches of the male. The human family is the only exception. A man that loves his wife, however, will respect her under all circ.u.mstances and recognize her condition and yield to her wishes.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

{284}

A Private Word to the Expectant Mother

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in a lecture to ladies, thus strongly states her views regarding maternity and painless childbirth:

"We must educate our daughters to think that motherhood is grand, and that G.o.d never cursed it. And this curse, if it be a curse, may be rolled off, as man has rolled away the curse of labor; as the curse has been rolled from the descendants of Ham. My mission is to preach this new gospel. If you suffer, it is not because you are cursed of G.o.d, but because you violate His laws. What an incubus it would take from woman could she be educated to know that the pains of maternity are no curse upon her kind. We know that among the Indians the squaws do not suffer in childbirth. They will step aside from the ranks, even on the march, and return in a short time to them with the newborn child. What an absurdity then, to suppose that only enlightened Christian women are cursed. But one word of fact is worth a volume of philosophy; let me give you some of my own experience. I am the mother of seven children. My girlhood was spent mostly in the open air. I early imbibed the idea that a girl was just as good as a boy, and I carried it out. I would walk five miles before breakfast or {285} ride ten on horseback. After I was married I wore my clothing sensibly. Their weight hung entirely on my shoulders. I never compressed my body out of its natural shape. When my first four children were born, I suffered very little. I then made up my mind that it was totally unnecessary for me to suffer at all; so I dressed lightly, walked every day, lived as much as possible in the open air, ate no condiments or spices, kept quiet, listened to music, looked at pictures, and took proper care of myself. The night before the birth of the child I walked three miles. The child was born without a particle of pain. I bathed it and dressed it, and it weighed ten and one-half pounds. That same day I dined with the family. Everybody said I would surely die, but I never had a relapse or a moment's inconvenience from it. I know this is not being delicate and refined, but if you would be vigorous and healthy, in spite of the diseases of your ancestors, and your own disregard of nature's laws, try it."

Shall Pregnant Women Work?

1. OVER-WORKED MOTHERS.--Children born of over-worked mothers, are liable to be a dwarfed and puny race. However, their chances are better than those of the children of inactive, dependent, indolent mothers who have neither brain nor muscle to transmit to son or daughter. The truth seems to be that excessive labor, with either body or mind, is alike injurious to both men and women, and herein lies the sting of that old curse. This paragraph suggests all that need be said on the question whether pregnant women should or should not labor.

2. FOOLISHLY IDLE.--At least it is certain that they should not be foolishly idle; and on the other hand, it is equally certain that they should be relieved from painful laborious occupations that exhaust and unfit them for happiness. Pleasant and useful physical and intellectual occupation, however, will not only do no harm, but positive good.

3. THE BEST MAN AND THE BEST WOMAN.--The best man is he who can rear the best child, and the best woman is she who can rear the best child. We very properly extol to the skies Harriet Hosmer, the artist, for cutting in marble the statue of a Zen.o.bia, how much more should we sing praises to the man and the woman who bring into the world a n.o.ble boy or girl. The one is a piece of lifeless beauty, the other a piece of life including all beauty, all possibilities.

{286}

Words for Young Mothers.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The act of nursing is sometimes painful to the mother, especially before the habit is fully established. The discomfort is greatly increased if the skin that covers the nipples is tender and delicate. The suction pulls it off, leaving them in a state in which the necessary pressure of the child's lips cause intense agony. This can be prevented in a great measure, says Elizabeth Robinson Scovil, in _Ladies' Home Journal_, if not entirely, by bathing the nipples twice a day for six weeks before the confinement with powdered alum dissolved in alcohol; or salt dissolved in brandy. If there is any symptom of the skin cracking when the child begins to nurse, they should be painted with a mixture of tannin and glycerine. This must be washed off before the baby touches them and renewed when it leaves them. If they are {287} very painful, the doctor will probably order morphia added to the mixture. A rubber nipple s.h.i.+eld to be put on at the time of nursing, is a great relief. If the nipples are retracted or drawn inward, they can be drawn out painlessly by filling a pint bottle with boiling water, emptying it and quickly applying the mouth over the nipple. As the air in the bottle cools, it condenses, leaving a vacuum and the nipple is pushed out by the air behind it.

When the milk acc.u.mulates or "cakes" in the breast in hard patches, they should be rubbed very gently, from the base upwards, with warm camphorated oil. The rubbing should be the lightest, most delicate stroking, avoiding pressure. If lumps appear at the base of the breast and it is red, swollen and painful, cloths wrung out of cold water should be applied and the doctor sent for. While the breast is full and hard all over, not much apprehension need be felt. It is when lumps appear that the physician should be notified, that he may, if possible, prevent the formation of abscesses.

While a woman is nursing she should eat plenty of nouris.h.i.+ng food--milk, oatmeal, cracked wheat, and good juicy, fresh meat, boiled, roasted, or broiled, but not fried. Between each meal, before going to bed, and once during the night, she should take a cup of cocoa, gruel made with milk, good beef tea, mutton broth, or any warm, nutritive drink. Tea and coffee are to be avoided. It is important to keep the digestion in order and the bowels should be carefully regulated as a means to this end. If necessary, any of the laxative mineral waters can be used for this purpose, or a teaspoonful of compound licorice powder taken at night. Powerful cathartic medicines should be avoided because of their effect upon the baby. The child should be weaned at nine months old, unless this time comes in very hot weather, or the infant is so delicate that a change of food would be injurious. If the mother is not strong her nurseling will sometimes thrive better upon artificial food than on its natural nourishment. By gradually lengthening the interval between the nursing and feeding the child, when it is hungry, the weaning can be accomplished without much trouble.

A young mother should wear warm underclothing, thick stockings and a flannel jacket over her night dress, unless she is in the habit of wearing an under vest. If the body is not protected by warm clothing there is an undue demand upon the nervous energy to keep up the vital heat, and nerve force is wasted by the attempt to compel the system to do what ought to be done for it by outside means.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

{288}

How to Have Beautiful Children.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

1. PARENTAL INFLUENCE.--The art of having handsome children has been a question that has interested the people of all ages and of all nationalities. There is no longer a question as to the influence that parents may and do exert upon their offspring, and it is shown in other parts of this book that beauty depends largely on the condition of health at the time of conception. It is therefore of no little moment that parents should guard carefully their own health as well as that of their children, that they may develop a vigorous const.i.tution. There cannot be beauty without good health.

2. MARRYING TOO EARLY.--We know that marriage at too early an age, or too late in life, is apt to produce imperfectly {289} developed children, both mentally and physically. The causes are self-evident: A couple marrying too young, they lack maturity and consequently will impart weakness to their offspring; while on the other hand persons marrying late in life fail to find that normal condition which is conducive to the health and vigor of offspring.