Many in the Country choose to be on their _Legs_ or _Knees_, supported by a Woman on each Side, or _lean_ on a Chair or Bed, and pass well enough through the present Scene of their Miseries: But I would preferably advise a Posture between _lying_ and _sitting_, on a _Pallet_ or _common_ Bed, the _Head_ and _Shoulders_ being _rais’d_ by Bolsters or Pillows, the Feathers _beat back_ from the Bed’s Feet, to support the hollow of the Loins, and prevent the Pressure of any Thing against the _Bottom_ of the Back Bone, to obstruct the Passage of the Child. This _Situation_ is most commodious, during Labour, for a Woman to _assist_ her Pains with the greater Freedom of Respiration, and the least Fatigue and Expence of Spirits; especially if the _labouring_ Woman lay hold of a _folded_ Napkin, held stiffly for that Purpose, drawing her Feet _upwards_ towards her Seat, _separating_ her Knees, and _fixing_ her Feet against something that will not easily give Way. If the Person in Labour will not be in Bed, the End may be answered by her _sitting_ in _another_’s Lap, with the _Bottom_ of her Back-Bone situate between the other’s Knees, with her _own_ separated and supported, and Feet fixed as aforesaid, to favour her bearing down. ’Tis inconsistent with the Design of my Writing to describe all the _convenient_ Situations, necessary in Cases of Difficulty, yet when the Operator has rectified all Obstructions to the Birth, the same Situation of the Body upon a _Slope_, from the Head downwards is most suitable, even altho’, for Conveniency, she should be deliver’d lying on one Side. I shall, on this Occasion, observe, what I have found Advantageous in my own Experience, as well as consonant to the Advice of the best Writers on the Subject: That the Delivery on the _Back_, by the Assistance of one placed on _each Side_, supporting her by the _Hams_, with her Knees _separated_, and raising her _Back Bone_ a little from the Bed during the _Activity_ of Pains, and the _Midwife_’s _Assistance_ of either Sex, is vastly preferable to the Delivery on _one Side_, to which I impute the Loss of many Children brought by _Turning_, as well as a more _tedious_ Labour in other Cases; because this Posture, in some Degree, _contracts_ the _Passage_, and only admits the proper Separation of _one_ Knee. CHAPTER V. _Concerning_ TOUCHING. This ought to be put in Practice, as soon as, from the Symptoms given in the Third Chapter, it is reasonable to expect the Birth approaching; and a _Child-bearing_ Person would be very much her own Enemy to refuse the only Means of giving a _true_ Information of her Case, and the Knowledge how to do her the most effectual Service.