Part 8

2. In such confinements too little care is generally given both to mother and child, and the male child, having a larger head and being therefore more difficult to bring into the world, is frequently still-born. That, moreover, half the still-born children are not registered, may further help to account for the disparity.

3. A male abortion is fairly easily brought about, but female issue is infinitely more difficult to get rid of.

4. Illegitimate children have obviously less chance of surviving than those born in wedlock, since their upbringing is necessarily rather irregular. Boys succumb more readily than girls to the evils which attend upon their undesired presence in an unfriendly world.

And here, by way of digression, I would point out that much misconception prevails regarding the normal prevalence of illegitimacy in England. It is not necessarily the product of either poverty or of city life. It is far more common in rural districts than in urban areas, and, even in cities, it is by no means the poorest parishes that produce the most illegitimate children. The urban artisan class as a whole is far more rigid in observing the sanctities and prescriptions of marriage than any other section of the community. In the country there are many more families who live comfortably with the illegitimate baby in their midst, and only a minimum of shame or compunction is experienced either by the mother or grandparents.

The fact that some 60,000 illegitimate children annually appear in England is well calculated to destroy some of our pharisaical complacency. In such a godly country, one would somehow have expected better things. It is true that in Germany, where the population is to that of England as 5 to 3, the illegitimate births are as 5 to 1—and that in Austria, the illegitimate birth-rate in 1916 was as high as 50 per cent., but both these countries, like many others, are burdened with impossible marriage-laws, and many are the obstacles in the way of a legal union for every citizen, rich or poor.

“God sends not ill; if rightly understood, all partial ill is universal good.” We must economize our babies; whether born in wedlock or out of it, every child has a right to some share of our consideration, and every mother, whether married or single, should have the right to demand such care as will save the children she bears from death in infancy.

It is estimated that 70,000 children are actually still-born each year, and there is little doubt that a very large proportion of these could be saved by a national scheme for the protection of mother and child. What we need is a kind of institution which would ensure that undesired male infants were privately removed from their surroundings and brought up under proper supervision and care. Thus only could we save the greater part of those boy lives at present thrown away, and which ought to go to fulfil the needs of our under-populated dominions, crying for settlers. The girl-babies could more safely be left with their mothers, or to the hazard which seems to regard bastard girls more kindly than boys.

It may seem something of a digression to add that, with regard to the causes of illegitimacy a very potent factor might be found in the countless public-houses of every town and village in the country. Remove excessive drink, and two-thirds of the immorality in the world will likewise disappear. This would prove especially true in Great Britain, where the ideals of morality are high, and religion is still a real safe-guard.

Shakespeare said: “A man who goes to bed drunk begets a daughter.” Whatever the theory on which he based this assertion, there remains very little doubt that many unwanted lives are brought into existence as a direct result of over-indulgence. It has often been stated that the ill-kept public-house is one of the greatest disseminators of consumption. How much might also be said of drink in connection with the spread of venereal disease!

But my main point is that intemperance means a high illegitimate birth-rate, which in its turn is the direct cause of the preponderance of girl-babies which survive and so accentuate this unfortunate disproportion.

VII

STERILITY

“Sterility does not necessarily prove that the sexual organs or functions in either the male or the female must be in an abnormal condition.”—A. W. EDDIS.

The causes of sterility are so multiple and diverse, and such countless volumes have been written on the subject, that I do not consider it necessary here to enter fully into all the particulars connected with the condition. According to Chavasse one wife out of every eight is barren, and the majority of these are to be found among the richer members of society. Mr. Arthur Eddis reckons that in Great Britain alone there are over 500,000 sterile married women. Only 7 per cent. of the fertile bear their first children after the third year of marriage. Therefore, if the first year has gone by with no sign of pregnancy, the young wife should bestir herself to examine the possible causes of failure in this direction.

Dr. Marion Sims, who devoted much attention to the treatment of sterility, laid down several general rules as essential to fecundity. One of the most important is that “Semen with living spermatozoa should be deposited in the vagina at the proper time,” or, in simple words, healthy fluid or seed from the male should be deposited at the proper time in the passage of the female. Now it may seem at first sight extraordinary, but many a childless couple remain so for the simple reason that never once in their connubial life have they hit on the suitable day on which, rather than any other, they could beget offspring. And that is precisely why so much help can be obtained from a suitable choice of days.

One lady I was asked to treat had been married nine years and at thirty-eight still remained childless. She was a healthy woman, but had complained of severe pains in her back and right side at certain times. Her periods were regular, so that it was easy to ascertain and utilize the day before the period was actually due. A slight flow ensued, but stopped on the third day—the patient went off to the seaside immediately and stayed there alone for some time. In three weeks she experienced much nausea, and the usual signs of pregnancy were soon detected. At the end of nine months from the day mentioned, she gave birth to a very fine little girl.

I would like to emphasise the marvellous effects of sea-air on the health of certain women. I have known the most obstinate childlessness cured simply by four to six weeks spent by the seaside.

A lady came to see me once who had been married for fifteen years without—so far as she knew—having ever conceived; she was over forty, her health was indifferent and she slept and ate little. The first thing to attend to was the regulation of a faulty diet, and certain other changes in her mode of living were recommended. A few weeks later I chose the sixth day of menstruation as most favourable in her particular case, and afterwards packed her off to rest and enjoy the sea-breezes alone at Margate.

Within nine months she gave birth to a girl weighing close on 10 lbs. I should add that in both of the above cases I considered as a result of my experience that there was little likelihood of a healthy male pregnancy, and deemed it preferable to make sure of a girl to begin with.

The mother who can bear children early and late and is most prone to male issue is the wide-hipped, deep-chested woman, who has shouldered her share of out-door work or regular exercise, whose digestive organs are unimpaired by rich food, and whose arteries are sound and young even into old age. The little woman who holds herself erect, slight yet agile and well-built, may have a son or two, but the bent-over, “crumpled up,” delicate, nervy, and small-made mother will be far more subject to female issue.

The young girl, who from childhood has been ashamed of her sex-development and who, to look more “boyish,” reduces her hips and chest to a minimum, will never have a healthy and normal motherhood. There are thousands of British girls (and it is in these islands that the species flourish most noticeably) who deliberately try to look mannish, by shoving forward their hips, shoulders and head. With sunken breasts and rounded backs they “slouch” along, mere shadows of what a well-developed woman should be.

Where a surgeon finds “nothing apparently wrong” in a woman who is still young and whose husband is normal, it may mean that everything about her and her way of living is “not quite right.” She may be suffering from habitual constipation and malnutrition. She may simply need good nourishing food in the shape of plentiful fruit, milk, vegetables, eggs, etc., with fresh meat once a day, instead of unwholesome “made dishes,” and rich dainties three times a day.

It is often noticed that fat women are inclined to sterility. They usually imbibe great quantities of liquid, and seem to hanker after thick soups, milk and cream, and all such fattening diet. Their digestion is naturally good, but their nerves are bad, and they suffer from perpetual attacks of extreme exhilaration or depression. Their confinements are difficult and rarely normal, recovery being slow. If they happen to conceive a boy, miscarriages are more than likely to occur.

Another type of woman who is prone to sterility is the lymphatic, lazy and intensely selfish female, who is wrapped up in herself. If she has a child it will be in the early twenties and rarely is the effort repeated.

Sterility may of course occur in both the fat and flabby woman, and the thin and weakly one. The chances of impregnation in both types are encouraged by a healthy mode of living, the avoidance of rich indigestible food, moderation in the consumption of strong tea and coffee, and extreme temperance in the matter of alcohol.

How much ill-health in the married woman is due to the lack of care taken by young girls during their early periods! To be on the safe side, it is often desirable every month to take a day or two off, either in bed or lying on a sofa. This precaution, if made a regular habit, may well help to prolong a woman’s life by ten years or more. In the young girl a little rest at such times might prevent much illness in later years, and add enormously to her chances of child-bearing by giving the virgin organs every opportunity of development without let or hindrance.

On looking into certain cases one often finds that trouble is due to irregularity or prolonged absence of periods, accompanied by a more or less continuous white discharge. Pregnancy is not likely to take place while this is allowed to continue, and it is astonishing how many women suffer it to go on without troubling to effect a cure. When this condition becomes chronic, professional advice is most necessary, and should immediately be resorted to.

A fact which I believe has not hitherto been recorded, but is fully substantiated by my own experience, is that women who habitually suffer from profuse and too frequent periods are more inclined to produce female children, while conversely those women whose periods tend to be scanty and arrive late more generally have male children.