ANINTRODUCTIONANDADVICE to the LADIES,POINTING OUTThedangersattendingbackeningtheirmilkthe first four or five Weeks afterDelivery.
To thePUBLIC.
I have very long been convinced of the many dangerous Consequences which attend the depraved Custom of employing Men-midwives unnecessarily—and have been for some Years intending from Month to Month to write my Ideas on that Subject, in order to combat the very destructive Practice, and endeavour to awaken the slumbering good Sense of the Nation. But when I reflected on the great Difficulty of conquering Prejudice—consideredhow generally the Opinion had been adopted that “Men were the most proper Attendants on the Labours of Women,” I confess the Task appeared too arduous—and I was discouraged.
I knew, thatnoArguments,even if an Angel was to descend from Heaven to utter them, could persuade the Ladiesto be satisfiedwith Midwives oftheir ownSex,after the fine Polishhad beenonceRUB’D OFF whichmodesty oughtto havework’d upto such abrightPitch ofhigh finish’dExcellence, asnotto have been capable of admitting the impure stain within the glossy smoothness of its beautiful enamel!—I knew, that, assisted by the greatest Part of the Faculty (whoseinterest, as well aspleasurewould be atstake) they would leaveno meansuntried—they would call inevery fallaciousart to their aid,to continuethe deception, byridiculingArguments which theycould not confute—and thatunmarried Ladies, throughan Opinionof theVirtue of their Friends, and swayed, andkept in Countenance, bythe prevalentCustom ofthe Times, would naturallyfall into the Stream, andnotbe undeceived untiltoo far hurried by the Currentto beafterwardsable to recede.—On the other Hand, I likewise knew that our young Menof Fashionhadlong agoresolvedto bid Adieuto thinking. Leavingthat troublesomeEmploymentto others, they were intent on pursuing the far nobler Gratificationsof Sense—endeavouring to bury in a round oftriflingDissipations,everySentiment meriting the Attention ofreasonableBeings that an Attempt to work onsuchMinds would be Absurdity in the extreme,—for, that, evenif they were convincedof the two uncontrovertable Truths I wish to establish, by being satisfied that Men werenotso safe as Women, and that Men-midwives polluted the Minds of their Wives, and rendered them easy Preys to Seduction, yet these Sentiments would have hadnoWeightwith them, because they married without Love, Religion, Principle—the onlyIngredients capable of formingnationalHappiness.Impurein theirSouls, debauch’din theirPersons, Libertinism openedthe only Avenuewhich could present them with a Prospect of Enjoymentsadapted to theirSensations—theirJoys were independent of their Wive’s Society—their Healths consequently were onlypolitelywish’d for—and they would of course readilyrisktheir Wive’s Purity being contaminated, rather thanbe disappointedin the Pleasure of seducing the Wivesof their acquaintance, through thepreparatoryAssistance of theMen-midwives. The Happiness of our gay young Mennotbeing centered within the narrow Circle of Home,the Virtueof their Wives is not in the least essential, has no Weight,when ballancedwiththe Advantagesthey derive from the toogeneralProstitution of the Sex. Theyextract Balmfromthe VicesofOtherWomen, which has sovereign Efficacyin healingany Wounds—alleviatingany smarts, which they may receive, or feel, from the infidelity oftheir ownWives—whom they never treated as theirrational Companions, whose Affections they were desirous of fixing irremoveably,—but asnecessaryBeings to do the Honours oftheir Tables—furnish Heirs—and save their Estates from being encumbered with the Payment of the Fortunes of their younger Brothers and Sisters. The only View ononeside, isMoney—on theother,Quality—eachhaving attain’d theonlyObjectthey aim’d at in Marriage,—each, without any fundamental Principle of Goodness, to restrain their Pursuits within the Bounds of Virtue, they throw off the Mask of Decency—and riot in Vice!—Our young Men think the Scriptures fit only to impose on Weakness. The Injunctions of the Gospel interfere with their Enjoyments—and having never believed it’s sacred Truths—or endeavoured to follow it’s amiable Precepts, they never experienced the serene Tranquillity arising from the delightful Possession of an approving Conscience. At the best,forgetfuleven of the Existence of a God—and laughing at the idle supposition of a future state, they give the Reins without Controul to all their Appetites and Passions—check’d by nothing but whattheytermhonour. ButtheirHonouris comprised, in—punishing the Man withmurderwho dares to doubttheir veracity, or fail in Respect to their Dignity—and in paying their Debtstosharpers, instead of rewarding the Industry of their Tradesmen, by giving them—their own Property.TheirHonourdoes not restrain them from defiling the Bedsof their Friends—breakingPromisestoworthyDependants—orbetrayingthe Interests and Honour of their Country forbase Wages of Iniquity, though committed with Confidence to their Charge,yet sacrificedwithout Remorse, for theirprivateEmolument.TheirHonourenforcesno single Virtue!—away with such honour!
I next consider’d the number ofwell-disposedMen, whothrough Prejudicemightneglect; or through Indolence, or Weakness of Understanding, be blind to the Force of my Arguments, and of course remain unconvinced by them—and these Obstacles, united, appeared too formidable to be surmounted by any weak EffortI could make through the Channel of a News Paper. At last however I took Courage and submitted my Sentiments to the Consideration of the Public, in the Gazetteer of the 28th of March.
I had not, at that time, any Intention of writing another Letter,—but deriving Hopes from the favourable Impression my first seem’d to have made on the Minds of the Considerate—and having heard weight laid onthe Men’s Knowledge of Anatomyas a Reason whytheyshouldbe saferthan Women, I wrote the second Letter to removethat specious, butmistakenIdea—and havingknownsome, and heard ofmanyother young Men Midwives, who reallyare ignorantof that Knowledge of Anatomy which istheir onlyRecommendationtoinfatuatedHusbands;—and a Man Midwife, under the Signature of “Old Chiron,” having endeavoured to abuse the World with the most scandalous misrepresentations, andgross Fallacies, my last Letter appeared to expose the Danger of employing raw young Men—or believing suchinterested Deceivers.
I am quite indifferent about the Offence which my Letters have giventhe Ladies of Fashion, and theirdarlingDoctors—their “sweet Men.”They are conscious my Letters convey onlya very faintSketch of theirimmodest, obscene practices. They aretoo badto beexactlydescribed without using Language very unfit for the Inspection of virtuous Women!—I place dreadful Rocks in their View, to warn them from a Course on which their Purity would be irretrievably wreck’d: and surely those Parents entertainstrangeNotions ofVirtue, who carefully keep my Letters out of the way of their Daughters, through whatthey imagine to be“Delicacy!”—they would rather, in short, have thempolluted in future—past redemption—than instructed by my friendly Admonitions, how to avoid the Path to Vice!—the modest, amiable, worthy,sensiblePart of the Community, I am confident, will read my Pamphlet with Candour—approve of the Sentiments contain’d in it—and recommend it to the Perusal of others. I shallview the Censures, and Displeasure ofthe vicious, and thedissipated, as the highest Eulogiums;—as Praise—which will conveythe most genial warmthto my Heart—and, I trust, afford me a pleasing Retrospect in mylatestHours!—
My Letters having succeeded beyond my most sanguine Expectation, I am now encouraged to attackanotherprevailing Custom among the Fair—that ofnotgiving suck to their Infants, at least during the first five or six weeks.
I shall wave consideringthe Proprietyof a Mother’s giving suck through a Sense of theincumbent Dutysheowesher child.—Though the Custom of backening the Milk isunnatural, dangerous, and too oftenfatal, I shall lay no stress on the former, but rest it entirely on the latter—for insuchan Age as the present, in which our fine Ladies have few Ideas of any Religion—are not capable of receiving Pleasure fromdomestickEmployments—would infinitely ratherconversewithany Menthan theirHusbands—leave their Childrento be instructed, orneglectedby Servants, and fly abroad, with eager Impatienceto game awaytheir Husbands Fortunes, and receive thecriminalAddresses oftheir profligateAdmirers, at the Assembly, the Masquerade, or morecommodious Apartmentsofthe Coterie—laughing at the Censures ofthe fewwho have still some Regard to Decorum—and despising the Belief of the perpetual Presence of a Being who is Witness to all theirsecret vicious Deformities—insuchtimes it would be Folly to mention the Dangers they expose their Infants to, from diseased Milk, want of a tender Mother’s Care—or dream of asking them how they will answer to the Almighty fornothaving afforded them the Nourishment He kindly provided for their Support?—I shall therefore only shew the Absurdity anddangerof this Custom, as far as it regards the Health ofthe Mother.
And here I must endeavour to give my Readers some Idea of that part of the human Body which is concern’d in theformation, and absorbtion of the Milk, in order for their understanding the Force of my arguments.
Our Bodies are constantly, when in Health, receiving Repairs in all their Parts, from millions of the smallest, most minute Arteries. Every Solid, and every Juice, is form’d out of, and secreted from, Blood. Those noxious Parts of the Blood which are not proper for these different,oppositeUses, are thrown off by insensible Perspiration. When, through various Causes, that Perspiration is obstructed, the acrid Matter which ought to have gone off, is absorb’d by the lymphatick Vessels, and returns into the Blood—brings on Fevers, Gout, Rheumatism, &c. &c.
The Lymphaticks, are numberless Vessels, which pass through spungy Glands. These fine Tubes have a vast number of Valves, which prevent the Lymph, (or Liquor) which runs through them from goinga contraryDirection from that intendedfor it. These fine Vessels are dispersed over every Part of our Bodies. The Point of a needle could not be applied to a Spot, under the Skin, where the Mouth of a lymphatic Vessel did not open to imbibe whatever is put in contact with it. These minute Branches run into other Branches, so form larger Vessels, till at last they all unite in a general Reservoir, where the Lymph which they contained, mixes with the Chyle, (the fine Part of our Food, which is fit to be converted into Blood) conducted there by the Lacteals, (the Lacteals resemble the Lymphaticks—they open into the Stomach, and Bowels—they imbibe nothing but fromour Food) the Chyle, and Lymph, thus mix’d, run up within the trunk of a large Vessel called the thoracic Duct, on the inside of the back Bone, which is incessantly emptying it’s Liquor into a Vein under the left Collar Bone, where it mixes with the Blood, is immediately convey’d into the vena Cava, which conducts it, with the returning Blood from the rest of the Body, (Lungs excepted) into the right Auricleof the Heart—it thence is drove by the contraction of the Auricle, into the right Ventricle of the Heart—by it’s contraction, into the Pulmonary Artery—from thence through the whole Lungs, where the Blood receives a Change from being impregnated with something received from the Air every Inspiration. The Blood thus changed, is collected from the Lungs into the Pulmonary Veins, and conducted into the left Auricle of the Heart; which drives it into the left Ventricle; which forces it into a great Artery, the Aorta—which rushes it over every other Part of the Body.
The lymphatic Vessels prevent our Blood dependingsolelyon our Food for supply, and by means of them we can subsist some time merely on the Produce of our own Bodies. All these lymphatic Vessels are closely accompanied by Arteries—whose Pulsations assist the motion of the Lymph to it’s Reservoir:⸺Consequently the quicker and stronger they beat, the faster the Lymph is hurried into theBlood. Hence the Reason why Fevers occasion so speedy a wasting of the Flesh—hence Hectics bring on Consumptions—hence People in Fevers can subsist long with little Food,—The lymphaticks then supplying the Blood too abundantly from our own Juices.
The Author of Nature has ordered an extraordinary Quantity of Blood to be prepared for the Child’s Food. Arteries run into the Glands of the Breasts, and in passing through them, the Blood, by a most wonderful Change, is converted into Milk!⸺by a Change, which nothing but Custom prevents our viewing as a Miracle!
The admired Toast of the Town cannot endure the Trouble of nursing. It would confine her too much at home—it has too vulgar an appearance—it is not warranted bythe Exampleof the first Circle—the Milk mustthereforebe backen’d.—It is denied Liberty to discharge itself by the Out-lett Providenceintendedfor it—the Child, whose Constitutionit was calculated for, is not suffered to have it’s Due. What becomes of the Milk?
It is absorb’d by the lymphatic Vessels,contraryto theoriginalIntention of Nature—and convey’d back into the Blood, in the manner I have before described.—What is the Consequence?—The blood Vessels becomenot only highly over-chargedwith Blood, but that Blood is thus rendered of an improper Consistence. A Fever ensues!—This Fever comes on when the woman isill able to bearit’s Shock!—How oftenis this Feverfatal!
The most fortunate Circumstance that can happen, is, when the Milk findsanotherout-lett. Probablyotherwisethere may be a formation of Matter somewhere—there is dangerthatMatter may fly to some capital Part.
If the Woman is young, healthy, strong, it is most probable the Milk willnotbe absorb’dquick enough. The Blood willfurnishMilkfasterthan the lymphatick Vessels can imbibe it, and convey it back again. The Breasts are painfully distended—they inflame.
When too late—it is then resolved they shall be suck’d.
During the time of Pregnancy a small quantity of Milk is lodged in the Milk Vessels of the Breasts. This Milk, when the nine Months are expired, is thick—clogs the Vessels. If the Woman never gave suck, the Pores through which the Milk ought to issue to the Child, are not open enough—they require thereforeto be clear’d, by theoldMilk being suck’d off,the very day of the Delivery, and to empty the Milk Vessels of what must otherwise clog them. Some woman ought to suck this off thereforeas soon as possible. If the Child is put to the Breastin Twelve, or Sixteen Hoursafter it’s Birth, it will suckgreedily—if delay’d three orfour Days, it is twenty to one the Child will not attempt it for a long time.
When thereforethe Necessityof the Case has overcome every Resolution form’d for the Woman’snotgiving suck, and her Child is put to her Breast, it is in vain!—the Child will not touch the Breast!—otherChildren—or women attempt to ease the poor Woman of her Load of Milk—this Resource likewise fails! the thick Milk has clog’d the Vessels—the N-pp-es, owing to the hard Distension of the Breasts, has shrunk into them—and, besides, their Pores have never been open’d—never been clear’d—no endeavours avail! the distress’d Woman, after having been sadly fatigued, exhausted, finds herself disappointed of Relief!—dreadful Symptoms soon appear! shetoo probablyfalls a sacrifice to a ridiculous—senseless—not to say a sinful deviationfrom the Path of Nature!—how many fine young Women have latelydied—and go off every Year, from this Cause!
But “particularWomen have not Constitutions strong enough to bear giving suck. Certainly there are some Women whom it might hurt.” Granted. Let such particular Women give suckonlyfor the firstfour,fiveorsix Weeks. If those Womenthenreally find themselves too delicate for thelongercontinuance of such a Drain, they thenmay safelyby degrees leave off giving suck—they have sufficiently recover’d Strength to venture throwing the Milk gently back into the Blood. The most delicately form’d Woman existing shouldnotdream of suffering a single Drop of the Milk which Natureintended for Evacuation, to return into the Blood, untill the Constitution is re-established—and enabled to bear discharging itself of the Superfluities, without encountering the Dangers whichdemonstrablyattend a contrary Practice. If a Woman is too delicate to bearcontinuing to suckleher Infant, surely she istoo delicateto endure the flying in the Face of Nature, andriskingthe Fever—if she is healthy and strong, the more incumbent her duty is, to nourish her Child—her danger too equal. IneveryView, the salutary Consequences attending Mothers discharging their Duty to their Children in this point, are so obvious, so glaring, thatto meit is matter of doubt whether those who fail in it are most to be condemn’d and despised fortheir want of natural Affection—or pitied and ridiculedfor their Folly.
These are my Ideas on this interesting Subject. Let those Women whoobstinatelypersevere in a Resolution to deny their Infants their natural Food—(and in whose Judgements my Arguments have appear’d deficient in Weight) stand the Trial, and risk the Consequence. I most sincerely hope the Success may answer their Wishes!
I now refer my Readers to the following Letters. I can assert,with consciousTruththat my Sentiments on thepreceding, andfollowingSubjects, have been the offspring of an Heart warm’d by a Love for my fellow-Creatures—ever most ardently solicitous for their Welfare and Happiness, here and hereafter.
I cannot expectto reclaimany Woman who hasalready usedaMan, for Reasons I gave at the beginning of this Introduction, and because, by quitting him, she wouldtacitlyacknowledge the Truth of my Assertions—and because none but those possess’d of the most exalted Qualities of the Head and Heart, can havegreatnessenoughto confessthey have been in an Error ofsucha Nature.
I am not without hopes however, ofopening the EyesofsensibleMen—and unmarried Women, who areat presentmodest, andwishtoremain so—and preventing theformer from advising, and thelatter from falling intothe scandalous Custom of employingMen-Midwifes, whichI knowto beerroneousas to it’spretendedsafety—fatallydangerousto thevirtue—andcertainlydestructiveof themodesty[1]of my fair Countrywomen.—They may believe me when I assure them thatno puritycan withstand therudeShock ofsuchIntrusions—the whitestErmine ismostliable to have it’s Beauties sullied!
If I should be happy enough to hear in a few Years that I have given the least Check to this most abandon’d ofviciousPractices, the Consciousness of having done a most signal Service to the Community, will implant genuine Pleasure—substantial Satisfaction in the Breast of
the Public’smost obedienthumble Servant,
The Author.
[1]I make a great Distinctionbetween Modesty, andVirtue. A Womanmaybevirtuous,withoutbeingModest—but it isimpossibleto bemodest, without beingvirtuous. Modesty isthe guardof Virtue—but itis possibleacoldConstitutionmaypreserveVirtue, evenafterevery Trace ofModestyhas been obliterated.
[1]I make a great Distinctionbetween Modesty, andVirtue. A Womanmaybevirtuous,withoutbeingModest—but it isimpossibleto bemodest, without beingvirtuous. Modesty isthe guardof Virtue—but itis possibleacoldConstitutionmaypreserveVirtue, evenafterevery Trace ofModestyhas been obliterated.
[1]I make a great Distinctionbetween Modesty, andVirtue. A Womanmaybevirtuous,withoutbeingModest—but it isimpossibleto bemodest, without beingvirtuous. Modesty isthe guardof Virtue—but itis possibleacoldConstitutionmaypreserveVirtue, evenafterevery Trace ofModestyhas been obliterated.