Some women complain of discomfort caused by the stretching of the skin over the enlarged abdomen. There is a very old belief that rubbing the skin with oil will relieve this sensation and also prevent the appearance of the purplish streaks described in a previous chapter. There seems to be little foundation for this belief, but if a woman fancies that she is safer and more comfortable after oiling her abdomen, there is certainly no reason why she should not do so. HELPING TO PREVENT COMPLICATIONS I have described to you the details of personal hygiene which your doctor is likely to want you to adopt during your months of expectancy, and some of the simple things that you may do to relieve minor discomforts when they arise, for having these things in black and white may make the whole matter a little easier for you. But there is still more that you can do to help the doctor help you. You can tell him about any discomfort or any new condition that appears, and follow his advice instead of talking it over with your family or friends. This will make it possible for him to prevent serious complications by treating them in the very beginning. You have probably learned, in one way or another, that the complications associated with childbirth that are most serious are infections (childbed fever), convulsions, abortions or miscarriages and severe bleeding, but perhaps you have not heard that you, yourself, can help greatly in the prevention of all of these conditions, in your own case, and chiefly by little more than exercising good common sense. Your part in preventing childbed fever, if your baby is to be born at home, lies in having in readiness a clean room, sterile sheets, towels, gauze pads, etc., as will be described in the next chapter. Concerning the other complications we shall say a word here. =Convulsions.= You can do a great deal toward preventing the condition that causes convulsions by following the advice about your personal care that we have just gone over and by making it possible for the doctor to treat early symptoms promptly. In fact, after looking over the records of many thousands of mothers who have had prenatal care, it seems almost safe to say that the expectant mother who follows such a course will not have convulsions.