The Mother and Her ChildSadler, William S. (William Samuel)
Science
The Mother and Her Child
Sadler, William S. (William Samuel)
Child care; Infants -- Care; Infants -- Health and hygiene; Pregnancy
Usually within an hour, a second dose of scopolamin is given, while
the application of so-called "memory tests" serves to indicate whether
it is advisable to administer additional injections. Some leading
advocates of this method claim that the majority of the unfavorable
results attendant upon "twilight sleep" are the direct result of
failure to control the dosage of the drug by these "memory tests;" and
they call attention to the large percentage of "painlessness" as proof
of probable overdosing. If the patient's memory is clear and she is
not yet under the influence of the drug, a third dose is soon given.
If, however, the patient is in a state of amnesia (lack of memory),
this third injection is not commonly given until about one hour after
the second injection. The amount of amnesia present is used as a guide
for repeated injections at intervals of one to one and a half hours.
As a rule, the morphin is not repeated.
It must be evident that the success of such a method of anesthesia
must depend entirely upon thoroughgoing personal supervision of the
individual patient by a properly trained and experienced physician;
and it is for just these reasons that "twilight sleep" is destined to
remain largely a hospital procedure for a long time to come.
Experience has shown that those cases of "twilight sleep" that are not
under the influence of scopolamin over five or six hours do vastly
better than those under a longer time. When employed too long before
labor this method seems to favor inertia and thus tends to increase
the number of forceps deliveries.
The number of injections may run from one to a dozen or more, and
patients have come through without accident with fifteen or more
doses, running over a period of twenty-four hours.
THE CLAIMS OF "TWILIGHT SLEEP"
While "twilight sleep" as a method of anesthesia is not altogether
new, many of the claims made for it by recent advocates are more or
less new; and, to enable the reader clearly to comprehend both the
advantages and disadvantages of this method, both the favorable and
unfavorable facts and contentions will be summarized in this
connection. The favorable claims made for "twilight sleep" are:
1. That eighty to ninety per cent of all women who use this method can
be carried through a practically painless labor.
2. That there is practically no danger to the mother (some degree of
danger to the child is admitted by most of its champions) other than
those commonly attendant on the older and better known methods in
general use.
3. That "twilight sleep," being almost exclusively a hospital
procedure, would result in more women going to the hospital for their
confinement--if it were used more; and would, therefore, tend to bring
about more careful supervision and individual care on the part of the
attending obstetrician.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account