The Prospective Mother, a Handbook for Women During PregnancySlemons, J. Morris (Josiah Morris)
Science
The Prospective Mother, a Handbook for Women During Pregnancy
Slemons, J. Morris (Josiah Morris)
Obstetrics; Pregnancy
To be on the safe side a prospective mother who has previously had a
miscarriage should not travel at any time during pregnancy; others
are not obliged to follow this stringent rule except during the first
sixteen and the last four weeks of pregnancy. In the former period
there is some danger of miscarriage because traveling may cause
separation of the relatively loose attachment of the ovum. In the
latter period the muscle-fibers of the womb are usually irritable and
therefore the rolling of a ship or the jolting of a car may set up
painful contractions which in some instances expel the fetus.
Generally there is the least risk of accident between the eighteenth
and the thirty-second weeks, though patients should be careful even
during this interval not to travel at the time when a menstrual
period would ordinarily be expected.
The length of the journey and the ease with which it can be made are
also important features to be considered. Obviously there will be
less danger of mishap from a short trip than from a long one; if
possible, therefore, long journeys by rail should be broken so as to
afford opportunity for rest. Railroad trips which do not exceed two
or three hours are generally not so fatiguing that they must be
prohibited, provided the individual is perfectly well. Traveling by
boat is less tiresome than traveling by rail and, if equally
convenient, the boat should be given the preference. Long automobile
tours are attended with considerable risk of miscarriage and,
therefore, are forbidden.
MENTAL DIVERSION.--As a rule good health prevails throughout
pregnancy; it would be enjoyed even more frequently if many
prospective mothers did not think so much about the fact that they
are pregnant. For this deplorable self-consciousness the spirit of
the age is in part to blame; there never was a time, in all
probability, when people took such a keen interest in all matters
pertaining to health. It is also true, however, that fuller
instruction is needed now because the temptations to depart from a
regular, temperate way of living have notably increased.
At all events the point has now been reached where the average man or
woman knows something of anatomy, physiology, and the laws of
hygiene. Such knowledge should be helpful, and generally is, but if
it causes anyone to think incessantly about the workings of the body,
to that person it is detrimental. We all know such individuals. They
are made miserable because they scrutinize functions, like the
beating of the heart, that go on automatically and should be left
unobserved, or they minutely analyze their feelings and misinterpret
normal sensations as the evidence of disease.
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