Whatever is to be taken to the hospital should be packed in a bag several weeks before the predicted date of confinement and put in a convenient place so that one may be spared the trouble of gathering it at the last minute. Beside her usual toilet articles, the mother will require several gowns, a dressing-robe, and bedroom slippers. Clothing for the child will also be needed since most institutions stipulate that the infant use its own wearing apparel. If impracticable to transport the entire wardrobe when the mother enters the hospital, so much may be taken as will be needed during the first few days, and other articles may be brought as the need of them arises. The personal laundry of both mother and infant is usually done outside the institution. Surgical dressings of every description are provided by the hospital. Those who intend to enter a hospital, therefore, may disregard the list of articles necessary for confinement. Similarly, the sterilization, the preparations of the room and of the bed, and personal preparations will be of interest only to the patient who intends to stay at home. It is not always possible for the physician to say how long a patient should remain at the hospital; the rapidity of the mother's convalescence and the progress of the child, both important factors, cannot be accurately foretold. Frequently, it is a good plan to remain until the infant is four weeks old, but the majority of patients are dismissed at a somewhat earlier date. In no instance, however, should the mother be allowed to leave before the infant is two weeks old. Even when given the privilege of leaving so early she will always understand that competent assistance must be provided at home, for the mother should not resume her routine duties until six weeks after the birth. CHAPTER X THE BIRTH OF THE CHILD The Cause of Labor--The Course of Labor--The Stage of Dilatation--The Stage of Expulsion--The Placental Stage--The Effect of Labor upon the Child--Meddling--Justifiable Intervention--Management of Birth without the Doctor--Methods of Reviving the Child.