AMONGthe manyPreternatural BIRTHSmentioned, I thinkthatof aDead CHILD, may now at last justly take place.
BUTbecause thisCaseis too commonly mistaken, and that theLive INFANTis too often taken forDead, and consequently the wretched innocentCreaturetreated accordingly; I think it may not be amiss, before I enter upon thisDelivery, that I make a few previous requisiteRemarks; by which the extraordinaryMIDWIFE, who is commonly sent for too late, may perfectly know whether theBIRTHbedeadoralive; to the End that, so also in Case ofNecessity, it may be accordingly managed: Since in this fatalConditionI have knownseveral Personsto have been grossly deceiv’d, who have depended upon theRelationof the sickWoman, or taken it upon theCreditof the ignorant attendingMIDWIFE.
FIRSTthen I know it to beAlive, if, by laying myHandon theMother’sBelly, I find itstirormove: Or,Secondly, If I have not fullSatisfactionthis way, I would convey myHandinto theWomb, as soon as theWatersbreak, to feel thePulsationof theNavel-String; which the nearer I feel to theCHILD’sBelly, the stronger I find itbeat, ifAlive: Or,Thirdly, I would put myFingerinto theINFANT’sMouthto feel itsTongue, which (ifAlive) I should perceive it tostir, as if it wouldsuck.
WHEREAS, on the contrary, we may know it to beDead, when a certain nauseous and cadaverousHumourflows from theWomb: Or, when theWomanfeels a great ponderousWeightin herBELLY, tumbling always towards thatSide, which she inclines to, or lies upon: As also when we find theCHILDcoldin theWomb; or theUmbilicalVessel withoutPulse; or theTongueimmoveable: Or lastly, when I perceive theDissolution of the Cuticleon the Top of theHead, I am then positive that theFoetusisDead; because, asthisis not easilydissolved, neither does it happen immediately, but some Space of time afterDeath.
INthisCasethen of adead CHILD, theLabouris commonly lingring and dangerous, because of the few, faint, and slowPAINSwhich seize theWoman; so thatNature, being half overthrown by theDeathof theINFANT, which now can no ways help itself, absolutely requires to be assisted by the most expeditiousArt: Andthatbest, in my humble Opinion, by theMeansandMethodfollowing,viz.——
FIRSTI would endeavour to awaken and promote thePAINS, by one or more sharp and strongClysters: ButSecondly, ifthesedo not succeed so expeditiously as necessary, I would introduce myHandinto theWomb, sliding it all along under theBellytowardstheFeet; and so, withFaceandBreastdownwards, I would gently extract it by them; in the same manner, as if it wasAlive. Only, in thisCase, greatCaremust be taken, that theHeadmay not unhappilyseveritself from theBody, and consequentlystay behindin theWomb; which Accident may easily happen in thePassage, especially if theBIRTHis any waysputrefy’d.
HOWEVER, after all, inCaseof such an untowardOccurrence, I would still excuse myself from theUseof anEductor, and debar myself from the Practice of anyInstrumentwhatsoever, save only that of my own naturalHand; which, I think, in allConditionsofBIRTHS, whetherNaturalorPreternatural,DeadorAlive, is solelyobliged, and only best serves, according to theRulesof myProfession, to discharge theDutyof all theINSTRUMENTSin theSurgeon’s Shop; excepting only in theCaseof aMONSTERor a veryHydropical CHILD.
BUTin the presentCircumstanceof theHead’s being separated from theBody, as soon as I have extracted theCARCASE, as above; I would instantly convey back myHandinto theWOMB, and put one or two of itsFingersinto theMouthof theHEAD, placing myThumbunder theChin: For bythustaking Hold of it by theJaw, I would extract it gently, andthatwith the greatestEaseandSafetyto thePATIENT Woman.
NOWhaving thus, in fine, both particularly and at large, treated of the severalSortsofNatural,Difficult, andPreternatural BIRTHS: And having also for the commonGood of Mankind, without any Affectation, Hesitation, or Reservation, candidly laid down, and ingenuously set forth the mostcertain,brief,plain,easy, andunprejudiced INSTRUCTIONS, which perhaps have ever yet been committed toPrint, upon the excellentSubjectofMIDWIFERY: And having likewise, in a Wordlastly, for the trueDirectionand goodGovernmentof allMIDWIVES, fairly laid (as it were) andfaithfullydeliveredthebig-belly’d Woman, in every relativeCaseorConditionofBIRTH, which may or can happen to her: It now only remains, I would modestly think, that I should (in the next place) come to take all the necessaryCare, and make the most requisiteProvisionpossible for the perfectRecoveryof myChild-Bed-Woman; andthatin the ensuingMethod.