’Tis true, it happens, tho’ unobserv’d by Writers, as far as I remember, that _many_ Women have no _Waters breaking away_, either before or after the Birth; whether absorbed or not, in Time of Labour, I shall not at present determine; this is called, by the Country People, a _dry_ Labour, and often attended with Difficulty; however, if the _Crown_ appear _forward_, the Issue may nevertheless be favourable. The Child being born, the next Business is to tie the _Navel-string_ with a _waxed_ Thread, so _doubled_, as not to endanger _cutting_, about _two_ Inches from the Child’s Body, making another Ligature near the Body of the Mother, so far distant from the former, as may be convenient for _Cutting_ between _both_ Ligatures, and separating the Infant from its _After-birth_. Midwives are too apt to leave a greater Length, which can be of no Service, but has been thought, on the contrary, by our Countryman CHAPMAN, to occasion _Navel_ Ruptures. After the _Separation_ of the _Navel-string_, the Care to get the _After-birth_ succeeds; this will often come by the Assistance of Nature, with a gentle Motion of the Hand gradually drawing and loosening it, by the Navel-string: But if it adheres to the _Fund_ of the _Womb_, which is frequently the Case, whether from the _Waters_ being come away before the Birth or otherwise; it must cautiously be separated, and extracted by the Hand, to prevent the most mischievous and fatal Consequences. The Assistant holding the _Navel-string_ with _one_ Hand, must with great Caution introduce the _other_ into the _Womb_, avoiding _all Violence_ to any Part in the Way, ’till she reaches the _After-birth_, some Part of which probably, being loosened, will be found more _forward_ than the rest; which _taking_ between her _Thumb_ and _Fore-Fingers_, she must, by an easy Motion of her other Fingers, between the _Womb_ and _After-birth_, gradually _separate_ the Parts adhering all _round_, ’till finding the whole free, before the Palm of the Hand and Fingers, she brings it intirely away; for should any Part remain, the poor Woman’s Labour would still continue, and occasion _dangerous_ Floodings, requiring the immediate Assistance of an able Hand, to rescue the Patient from the immediate Hazard of Death. Sometimes when the _Womb_ has discharged its _Waters_, and the _Child_, by Reason of a Defect of Pains, or otherwise, remains _long_ very _forward_ near the _Birth_, the _Womb_ so _contracts_ about the _After-birth_, as to make the _Separation_ of it very difficult; in which case Assistance is requisite, from one well acquainted with the Structure of the Body; and the longer this is delay’d, the more Danger there will be of all the bad Consequences of the Retention, and Corruption of the _After-birth_ in the Body.