Every necessity and convenience should be in readiness for the occasion. Provide two yards of rubber cloth for protecting the bed, a fountain syringe, a hot water bottle, safety pins, antiseptic absorbent cotton, glycerine, arnica, ammonia, carbolic and castile soap, calenduline, olive oil, and cosmoline. Also have an abundant supply of soft rags. They should be large and clean. Remove the seams and buttons. Old sheets torn in quarters or pillow slips are the most desirable. Make the bed as if one were going to sleep in it. Place the rubber cloth over the under sheet. Cover it with an old quilt or comfort that will wash easily. Have the bed set out from the wall so that both sides can be used. Prepare the side for the patient that will enable the physician to use the right hand. Let the patient wear the garments she desires to have on after confinement, having care to protect them by folding back smoothly, and fastening a sheet loosely about the waist. After labor begins, she should take only liquid food. The bladder should be relieved frequently. If the bowels have not been moved within twenty-four hours, a copious enema of warm water should be taken. Until the last stage, the patient can assume any position affording the most comfort. Usually, she is inclined to change frequently, sitting, lying, walking and even kneeling. When expulsive efforts occur, she ordinarily prefers to recline upon her back, with knees flexed and hips elevated. At this time, she naturally pushes with her feet, and pulls with her hands. A padded box should be firmly fixed at the foot of the bed for the feet. She can grasp the hand of an assistant, or have some reliable mechanical contrivance for her hands. The simplest is a strip of new muslin, ten inches wide, put around the foot of the bed, and tied, leaving it the desired length for a good purchase. In a prolonged labor, the _obstetric harness_ is the most valuable assistance. This is a padded belt for the back, with straps extending to the knees and feet. From the knees are counter straps, with handles for the hands. With this simple contrivance, a physician requires less assistance. _Supporting the perineum is not only absolutely unnecessary, but also apt to be exceedingly injurious._ Meddlesome midwifery is always to be deprecated. A natural labor needs no manual local interference. Although many authors and teachers recommend support to the perineum in the last stages, yet more ruptures may be attributed to this practice than to leaving it entirely untouched. A Canadian physician asserts that he has attended 1,700 women in confinement without giving support to the perineum, and yet in no case did rupture occur.