With the onset of the second stage the nurse should complete the preparations for the baby’s birth, bearing in mind that with a primipara the baby probably will not come for an hour and a half or two hours, but may come in half an hour or less if the patient is a multipara. Everything which is to be used should be conveniently placed, but the packages are not necessarily opened at this time. In addition to the sterile dressings, basins, gloves, instruments and various other articles which have been enumerated, the nurse must remember that there should be for the baby a box or basket lined with a blanket and containing one, or preferably two, hot-water bottles at 125° F.; in hospitals, an adhesive strip for the baby’s name or a name necklace; a binder of flannel or sterile gauze, according to the custom of the doctor; sterile olive oil or albolene for the first oiling and one or two tubs, in case the baby needs to be resuscitated. There will be needed, also, a covered basin for the placenta; chloroform and an inhaler; Wassermann tubes, for those doctors who make this test as a routine; hypodermic syringe and needles, with pituitrin, ergotole and drugs for stimulation which the doctor may specify. (Figs. 79, 80.) In the meantime, the force and frequency of the pains should be noted, and some doctors require a record of both the fetal and maternal pulse rate every half hour, and notification if the baby’s is over 150 or below 116, or the mother’s over 100 or below 60. Extreme restlessness, distress, vaginal bleeding, prolapsed cord, a temperature of 100° F., or any marked change must be communicated to the doctor immediately, if it occurs before he has started for his patient. The patient may complain of intense pain in her back and cramps in her legs during the second stage. Pressure made by the nurse’s hand, or a small pillow slipped under the small of the back will frequently relieve the backache, while cramps in the legs may be relieved by straightening, and slightly elevating the leg, and rubbing it while in that position. As these pains are usually due to pressure they have no serious significance and subside as soon as the child is born. [Illustration: FIG. 79.—Bed and simple equipment in readiness for normal delivery. (From photograph taken at Johns Hopkins Hospital.) ] _On table by bed_: Sterile: cover. towels, 6. bag of sponges. delivery pad. pair of leggings. delivery sheet. doctor’s gown. perineal pads. cord ligatures. _Lower shelf_: douche pan.