LETTER IX.. Management in Pregnancy.

MANAGEMENT IN PREGNANCY.

Importance of Attention to the Health at this Period—Clothing, and its Effects—How to Regulate it.

There is, perhaps, no period of life in which the management of the health becomes a matter of more importance than in pregnancy. A little mismanagement here is not unfrequently sufficient to cause the individual life-long suffering and disease. I have known a woman, in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy, to go to an evening party, become excited and mirthful, remain late at night, eating and drinking, as is customary on such occasions, and perhaps, worst of all for a person in such a condition, engage freely in the dance. Immediately, thereupon, that woman has been taken with uterine hemorrhage, that ended necessarily in abortion, a circumstance always more unfavorable to the constitution than labor itself. I have known such a woman to be not only in a very precarious and dangerous situation at the time, but to experience for many months afterward an extreme prostration of the general health, and an amount of suffering from depression of spirits and nervousness, with all its multitudinous train of ills, which cannot be conceived of only by those who have suffered them. I have known a woman commit imprudences, such as doing a great deal of work at one time, when she was generally indolent in her habits; and thus, by the indolence and overworking alternately, abortion, hemorrhage, attended with fainting—and which has brought her to the very verge of death—has been caused. I have known, too, imprudent women, who, dissatisfied with themselves and their condition, have taken powerful medicines, with the idea of removing their unwelcome obstructions, and thus to bring upon themselves a train of evils and sufferings which have ended only in the sleep of death. I have known, too, women to be exceedingly injured by the gross habits of their prurient husbands during this period. The abominable and disgusting practice to which I here allude is, I fear, exceedingly common. It cannot be too much reprobated or spoken against. He that uses his wife like a brute during this time, is, to say the least, little better than those who go away from home in quest of illicit intercourse.

Women, too, are liable to accidents during this period. I lately had a case in this city (New York), of a strong, healthy woman, who had borne a number of children, and, at about the end of the seventh month, an unfortunate circumstance occurred, in which no person was to blame, and by which she became so much and so suddenly frightened as to be prostrated on her bed for nearly a week. She did not recover the general tone of the system during the remainder of the period; and the day after the birth of the child, it was seized with fits resembling those arising from fright. The child, as well as the mother, was very feeble. By very prudent management, however, both finally recovered.

All great and powerful excitements, whether of mind or body—every thing, in short, that is not consistent with a uniform, even tenor of both mental, moral, or physical life, should, as far as possible, be avoided. If ever woman’s life is to run like the smooth and placid stream, let it be at this time, on which so much, not only of her own health, but that of her offspring, depends.

CLOTHING.

The great advantages to be derived from a proper regard to the wearing apparel in pregnancy, leads me to make in this place some general remarks on the subject, which I shall follow with more special advice in regard to this particular period.

It is an old maxim, that those who accustom themselves to go habitually clad in thin garments are the most hardy, vigorous, and free from disease.

The question then arises, how far is it safe, in each individual case, to diminish the amount of clothing worn?

It is very evident that no great change should be made suddenly.

By practicing the various natural means of hardening the system and invigorating the general health, such as daily bathing, going often into the open air, and avoiding overheated and illy-ventilated rooms, and, in short, pursuing such a course of daily regimen as sound physiology dictates, almost all individuals may very soon bring themselves to need a much less amount of clothing than is usually worn.

At the far-famed hamlet Graefenberg, in Germany, many persons wear very thin clothing, even when the weather is frosty, and the snow deep upon the ground. According to the rules of fashion there, no cravat of any kind need be worn upon the neck. Even the breast may be left exposed, to receive the invigorating effect of the cool, fresh air. It is amusing even, to see there, as I have often done, old men who have become so hardy and vigorous that they could brace themselves up against the snow-storm with bare and uncovered breasts, with a thin coat, and perhaps no vest; and all this with apparent luxury and comfort. It is indeed surprising to witness what habit is sufficient, in a short time, to accomplish in these matters.

LACING.

Some persons seem to suppose, that if they dispense with the words fashion, corsets, stays, and the like, they have nothing more to do in the matter of tight clothing; but it should be remembered, there may be lacing, that is, compression of the body, by other means than mere corsets, corset-strings, and stays. A dress may be so tight—and such there often are—as to lace the body as effectually as if the strings were actually used.

It is to be hoped that the times will, ere long, change; that it will become as fashionable for females to vie with each other as much in possessing a full, plump waist, as it has hitherto been to possess a small one. Why may it not be, and may we not imagine that cotton wadding, etc., may be yet brought into requisition to remedy the forms of nature about the waist, as now in other parts of the body? At any rate, fashion can do any thing; and since it is the order of fashion to change, we may, in time, expect a different state of things.

It is well remarked by Dr. Andrew Combe, that “already sounder views of the nature of the human frame, added to the lamentable lesson of experience, have convinced many mothers that the surest way to deform the figure, and to prevent gracefulness of carriage, is to abolish exercise, and enforce the use of stiff and tight stays; and that the most effectual way to improve both, is to obey the dictates of nature in preference to the inspiration of ignorance. It was not by the use of tight bands and stays that the classic forms of Greece and Rome were fashioned; and if we wish to see these reproduced, we must secure freedom of action for both body and mind, as an indispensable preliminary. If the bodily organization be allowed fair play, the spine will grow up straight and firm, but at the same time graceful and pliant to the will, and the rest of the figure will develop itself with a freedom and elegance unattainable by any artificial means; while the additional advantage will be gained, of the highest degree of health and figure compatible with the nature of the original constitution.”

Let us look at this matter a little more in detail.

1. It is a law of the living body, that in order for easy, healthful, and natural motion to be put forth, no unnatural or artificial pressure must exist.

If we wear a shoe that is too tight, we know how much walking is impeded, that, perhaps, best of all exercises; and that if this pressure be continued for a considerable time, nature revolts at our waywardness, and produces for us a corn. The parts are made to grow out of proportion; the toes crooked, bent, and ugly in appearance.

So, too, if a person wears a tight cravat, we see how soon circulation is impeded, and headache follows.

Compare, too, the breathing of an individual with a full, healthy, and well-expanded chest, that has not been exposed to artificial pressure, with that of a man or a woman which has been for years contracted to the smallest span; the one can scarce mount a flight of stairs for want of breath, while the other can climb the mountain-side, and be but the more invigorated thereby.

2. Pressure upon any part of the system impoverishes that part.

It is said of the Chinese women, that many of them wear shoes so tight that their feet remain as small as in childhood. If a person is in the habit of stooping forward too much, or of leaning against a desk a considerable length of time in the counting-house or at school, we see the chest becomes enfeebled and sunken. The general law is, artificial pressure impoverishes any part of the system to which it is applied.

3. Look at the skin. It is naturally a breathing organ.

If you keep the air from the skin, your system feels smothered. Does not every one know how refreshing it is, on a hot, sultry day, to allow the atmosphere to circulate freely about the surface?

Every lady, however genteel, however pinched up in her fashionableness she may choose to be when she goes out before the world, takes off her clothing from instinct as soon as she is alone by herself again.

Even in cold weather, smothering the skin is productive of uncomfortable sensations; and all persons may observe, that in lying down to sleep by day, with the usual amount of clothing on, they become feverished, unrefreshed, and awake with at least a general lassitude, and very likely with a severe headache, or other uncomfortable feelings of the head. On the other hand, if there is necessity for deep during the day, and the individual lies down with suitable clothing, and yet sufficiently covered to remain comfortable, a refreshing sleep is obtained.

Ladies especially who, from pregnancy or other reasons, have need of their forenoon “naps,” will do well to remember this advice. So also infants should always be undressed when they are allowed to go to sleep. Thus much for the skin as a breathing organ.

4. But perhaps the worst of all physical injuries produced by clothing, is that exerted upon the chest. We read that in the blood of the animal is the life thereof. In the stomach the digestible portions of the crude materials of food are formed into chyme. The chymous mass passes then onward through the pylorus into the duodenum, or second stomach. Here the chyle is formed, which is a step nearer blood than chyme. The lacteals suck up this milk-like fluid called chyle, and carry it into the portal circulation, to commingle with the blood. The blood, in this crude state, is sent to the liver, where a still further purifying process goes on. After this the venous blood passes to the heart, from whence it is sent to the lungs, there to become arterialized, or rendered in its purest state. Thence it passes back again to the left side of the heart, from which it is sent to all parts of the system, to afford life, growth, energy, and strength.

You will now perceive that this blood-restoring process, which, by the wonderful mechanism of nature, goes on in the lungs, is a very important one to the health. Here, in myriads of air-cells contained in the lungs, the surface of which amounts to at least as many superficial inches as the entire external skin, it is purified, and rendered fit for the purposes of life.

We see, too, that when the system is left free to perform its own normal functions, the chest expands freely at every inspiration of air we breathe; and in proportion as this expansion of the chest is full and free, will be the amount of air inspired, and, as a consequence, the amount of oxygen, or the blood-purifying principle, will be proportionately augmented. On the other hand, if, by compression of the chest, the full, free inspiration of air is hindered, less oxygen will be received into the system, and, consequently, the blood will become less pure.

A woman who laces herself tightly about the waist cannot be supposed to breathe hardly more than one half the amount of air she should do. How, then, in the name of common sense, can she expect to enjoy health? Every organ of the human system must be allowed its free exercise, or a deterioration of the general health must be the inevitable result. We might as well expect to have good health with only half the amount of food we should have, as with half the amount of the air we should breathe.

Thus, you perceive, if any unnatural pressure is made upon a part of the system, motion is impeded, and without free motion, health cannot exist; that with such pressure, parts upon which it is made are impoverished; that if clothing is worn too tightly about the body, the breathing function of the skin is hindered, and that debility is the result; that in particular, if the chest is compressed, as is often done by the use of stays and corsets, tight dresses, and the like, that important function of respiration is impeded, and that thus the health must inevitably sink. These principles cannot be too much studied, or too much carried out in practice, in order to secure the firmest and most enduring health.

There are also other ill effects than those we have glanced at that are caused by tight clothing. Thus, in compressing the chest, the abdominal organs are also made to suffer. The functions of the stomach cannot go on properly; the food is not digested as it should be; the liver cannot act freely; the bowels become torpid and constipated; the uterus is pressed out of its place, causing prolapsus uteri, or falling of the womb, as it is called; neither the blood-making, the blood-purifying, nor the blood-distributing processes can go on healthfully. Thus the entire system is made to suffer merely from the pressure made upon the external parts of the body.

Do you ask me, how does all this bear upon the subject of pregnancy? I answer, that if in ordinary states of health, clothing should be of such a character as at all times to allow of the most free and unrestrained movement of every part of the system, how much more important and imperative is this consideration with those in pregnancy. And, accordingly, as is well remarked by Dr. Eberle, “The custom of wearing tightly-laced corsets during gestation, cannot be too severely censured. It must be evident to the plainest understanding, that serious injury to the health of both mother and child must often result from a continued and forcible compression of the abdomen, while nature is at work in gradually enlarging it for the accommodation and development of the fetus. By this unnatural practice, the circulation of the blood throughout the abdomen is impeded: a circumstance which, together with the mechanical compression of the abdominal organs, is peculiarly calculated to give rise to functional disorder of the stomach and liver, as well as the hemorrhoids, uterine hemorrhage, and abortion. The regular nourishment of the fetus, also, is generally impeded in this way: a fact which is frequently verified in the remarkably delicate and emaciated condition of infants born of mothers who have practiced this fashionable folly during gestation. It may be observed, that since the custom of wearing tight-laced corsets has become general among females, certain forms of uterine disease are much more frequent than they were sixteen or eighteen years ago.” Hence, as has been judiciously remarked, “it ought to be the first duty of the young wife, who has reason to believe pregnancy to have commenced, to take special care so to arrange her dress as to admit of the utmost freedom of respiration, and to prevent even the slightest compression of the chest or abdomen.”

If I could write as impressively as I feel earnestly on this subject, how would I warn you, my friends, against the evils of too tight and illy-adapted clothing in pregnancy. How often have I pitied the newly-married woman, who seems really to be under an unavoidable necessity of conforming to fashion—so much are we all of us under the world’s influence—that her health and bodily comfort have been deteriorated and greatly interfered with. How often, too, have I wished that the day might hasten in which there would be a wide and general dissemination of light on this subject, so that people might not only know the truth, but be able to practice it. That such a day is not far distant, I do most confidently hope.