For the first week or two after the baby comes, you will be in bed, of course; your doctor will come in often and you will doubtless be cared for by a nurse devoted exclusively to you, or by a visiting nurse aided by members of your family. You will find that it is money well spent to keep the nurse, or someone else, to care for and help you, for six or eight weeks after the baby’s birth, or longer if possible. Adequate care after childbirth accomplishes two important ends. It practically always averts such immediate complications as hemorrhage and infection and it prevents more or less chronic invalidism. Infection is prevented by the scrupulously clean care which is given to your breasts and perineum, while hemorrhage is avoided by keeping you quiet and closely watching the condition of the uterus. Later invalidism is prevented by the many precautions which enter into your general care. These relate to your position in bed, diet, fresh air, rest, exercise, bathing, attention to your bowels; observance of symptoms and conserving all of your forces while increasing your strength. All of these details are important, for during the five or six weeks after confinement certain changes take place in your body which return it very nearly to its pre-pregnant state, and lack of watchful care while these changes are in progress may retard them and result in your being more or less permanently wretched. Make every effort, therefore, to secure the care that you need during this transitional period of five or six weeks called the _puerperium_. You will doubtless feel a little tired and nervous at first, for you have been through something of an ordeal, but when one considers the great things that your body has accomplished, your recovery and return to a normal condition will be surprisingly rapid. During the first few days you are likely to have little or no appetite but be very thirsty; be constipated; perspire freely and have an increased amount of urine, which you may have difficulty in passing; but these conditions are only temporary. In the beginning you will probably be nursed just about as anyone would be after a slight operation, with the addition of special attention to your breasts and perineum to prevent infection, and the toning up of abdominal muscles. In order to prevent bleeding and hasten your recovery you will be kept very quiet for a day or two, perhaps flat on your back; you may not be allowed to have any visitors and your diet, at first consisting of liquids, will finally be made up of light, easily digestible but nourishing food.