Produced by Tricia Gilbert, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo,
Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
A Handbook for Women During Pregnancy
by
Associate Professor of Obstetrics,
The Johns Hopkins University.
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This book, written for women who have no special knowledge ofmedicine, aims to answer the questions which occur to them in thecourse of pregnancy. Directions for safeguarding their health havebeen given in detail, and emphasis has been placed upon such measuresas may serve to prevent serious complications. Treatment of suchconditions has not been discussed, as it can be judiciously carriedout only by a physician who has the opportunity to observe and studythe individual patient. Furthermore, if there is to be notableimprovement in the management of cases of childbirth, the appearanceof untoward symptoms should not be awaited before consulting aphysician; on the contrary, prospective mothers must be taught thatthey should be under competent medical supervision throughoutpregnancy.
At present intelligent women demand some knowledge of the anatomicaland physiological changes incident to the development of the embryoand the birth of the child. These subjects do not readily lendthemselves to popular description, but I have told the story assimply as possible, following in a general way the text-book of myteacher and friend, Professor J. Whitridge Williams; indeed, my mainpurpose has been to reproduce his book "in words of one syllable."The use of a number of technical words has been unavoidable, and,though their meaning has been given in the context, it has not beenfeasible to repeat the definition every time an unfamiliar term wasused. On that account a glossary has been provided.
It is with pleasure that I avail myself of this opportunity toacknowledge the cheerfully given assistance of many friends. Inparticular I wish to thank Doctor Henry M. Hurd, until recentlySuperintendent of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, for his interest andadvice. I am also under deep obligation to my friend John C. French,of the English Department of the Johns Hopkins University, forhelpful criticism of the manuscript, and to my colleagues, DoctorsRupert Norton and Thomas R. Boggs, for valuable assistance. To manyothers—doctors, nurses, and patients—I am indebted for numeroussuggestions which have been made either consciously or unconsciously.
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In all branches of medicine the master word is prophylaxis, orprevention, and its benefits are nowhere more strikingly illustratedthan in the practice of obstetrics. In former times every woman whogave birth to a child or passed through a miscarriage was exposed tograve danger of infection or child-bed fever; but at present—thanksto the recognition of the bacterial origin of the disease and of itsidentity with wound infection—this danger can be practicallyeliminated by the rigid observance of surgical cleanliness andaseptic technique. Physicians have also learned that the mosteffective method of coping with other serious complications ofpregnancy and labor is by preventing their occurrence, or at least bysubjecting them to treatme