The mammæ of the pregnant woman are sometimes very painful; as
pregnancy advances they enlarge, the lacteal glands become congested
and swollen. To relieve this I recommend the application of a liniment
of equal parts camphorated oil, laudanum, and tincture of belladonna
gently applied several times a day. The breasts should always be extra
well covered with flannel so as not to take cold in them, otherwise an
abscess may form in them long before the child is born. If the nipples
are sensitive it is advisable to begin to harden them during the last
few months of gestation. Tannate of glycerine is perhaps the best thing
to apply for this purpose; it is best done by means of a small camel’s
hair brush. If the nipples are sunken into the breast, and too short
for subsequent use for the baby, it is well to draw them out by means
of a breast pump, the bowl of a new clay pipe, or by employing a bottle
from which the air has been replaced by filling it with hot water and
then pouring it out; the mouth of the hot bottle is applied over the
depressed nipple, and as it cools off, the vacuum thus formed draws the
nipple out.
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is often so annoying and weakening
that the strength of the patient becomes seriously threatened, and
hence some measures must be employed to counteract it. A great
variety of agents have been suggested for this purpose. Tincture of
nux vomica in two or three drop doses every three or four hours is a
useful remedy; the oxalate of cerium is another valuable agent for
this purpose, in five to ten grain doses three times a day, but a more
valuable remedy than any other that I know, is the Femina vaginal
capsule, to be used every night at bedtime, and in severe cases, also
in the morning.
Salivation is not constantly an attendant upon pregnancy, but when it
does occur it is weakening and debilitating. There are many remedies
for this disorder, but one of the most effectual ones is an occasional
dose of Epsom salts, say a teaspoonful in a half tumbler of water every
other morning, so as to produce free discharges from the bowels; when
salts are found objectionable, the Femina laxative syrup taken in doses
that have a similar effect will be a most excellent substitute.