Complications of Pregnancy : Abortion, Abdominal Pain, Miscarriage

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 6 of 43)

Leucorrhea

While leucorrhea is an unusual complication of pregnancy, it is often very troublesome and sometimes irritating. Do not take a vaginal douche unless it has been ordered by your physician, and even then make sure that the force of the flow of water is very gentle. The bag of the fountain syringe should be hung only about one foot above the hips. Soap and water used externally, followed by Vaseline or zinc ointment, will usually relieve the accompanying irritation.

Threatened Abortion

In the third chapter attention was called to the formation of the placenta or "after birth," on the site of the attachment of the cocoon embryo. At this particular time of the pushing away of the embryo from the uterine wall, one of the accidents of pregnancy occurs, in which the embryo becomes completely detached and starts to escape from the uterus, accompanied by varying degrees of pain and hemorrhage. The symptoms of this threatened abortion are:

1. Heavy menstrual pains.
2. Backache.
3. Hemorrhage.

The approach of the calendar date of the third month of pregnancy should be watched for, and all work of a strenuous nature studiously avoided; while at the first signs of the backache or any unusual symptom, the expectant mother should immediately go to bed and send for the physician. One patient who had aborted on four different occasions was able to pass this danger period by adhering to a rigid program of prevention during her fifth pregnancy. Two weeks before the third month arrived she discontinued her teaching and went to bed. She remained there four weeks, therefore running over into the middle of the following month. Gradually, she resumed her duties of teaching, carried her precious bundle of life to full term, and is now the proud and happy mother of a splendid baby girl.

Should abortion seem imminent, from one-eighth to one-fourth of a grain of morphine sulfate will greatly reduce all uterine contractions, and this, with the general quieting effect on the whole system, will usually suffice to prevent an abortion. The patient should quietly remain in bed from three days to one week.

If the abortion takes place - if a clot accompanied by hemorrhage is passed - save everything, lie in bed very quietly and send for your physician at once; and when he does arrive, be content if he does not make an internal examination at once, for if he should there is more or less danger of infection. And I repeat - throw nothing away - burn nothing up, save everything that passes until your physician has carefully examined it.

Sudden Abdominal Pain

Sudden or severe pains in the abdomen should be reported at once to your physician, while you should immediately go to bed and quietly remain there until you receive further instruction from your doctor when he calls.

In the later stages of pregnancy any appearance of blood should likewise be noted and reported without delay. These symptoms may not always be serious, but they are also associated with grave complications, and should, therefore, be given prompt attention.

Miscarriage

Abortion is a term used to designate the loss of the embryo prior to or at the third month. Miscarriage applies to the expulsion of the fetus or emptying of the uterus after the third month. It is possible for a miscarriage to occur anytime during the interim between the fourth and ninth months. After the uneventful passing of the third month, if an accident threatens, we instruct the mother to remain quietly in bed three to five days at the calendar date comparable with each menstrual period; and as she approaches the seventh month, we adjure her to be unusually careful and prudent.

The causes of miscarriages are many: Disease of the embryo, imperfect fetal development, some constitutional disease of the mother, a faulty position of the uterus, or it may result from something unusual about the lining of the uterus such as an endometritis - an inflammation of the mucus membrane.

Expectant mothers who manifest symptoms of a threatened miscarriage should studiously avoid such exercises as climbing, riding, skating, tennis, golf, dancing, rough carriage or automobile riding, and such taxing labor as sweeping, lifting, washing, running the sewing machine, window cleaning, the hanging of pictures, draperies, etc.

Cravings

Within reason, a pregnant mother should follow her natural appetite and satisfy her dietetic longings. Should she desire unusual articles of food, as far as possible she should have them. The idea has long prevailed that if the mother does not get what her longing soul supremely desires, that the on-coming baby is going to cry and cry until it is given what the mother wanted with all her heart and did not get. Such an idea is the very quintessence of folly and the personification of foolishness and superstition.

Many a precious babe has suffered as a victim of this notion of "craving" and "marking." One mother gave her baby a huge mouthful of under-ripe banana because "she knew that was just what he wanted, because, when pregnant, she had craved and craved bananas and for some reason or another she did not get them." The soft, smooth piece of banana slipped down the baby's throat - on into the stomach and intestines - caused intestinal obstruction and finally the end came; and we registered one more victim to the fallacies of fear and the superstitious belief in "cravings" and "markings." Occasionally some cravings are unusual and freakish, for instance, egg shells, leather, candles, chalk, and other abnormal tastes are developed. Of these we have only to say, "Rise above them, become mistress of the situation and change your longings." If such abnormal cravings come to you in the kitchen, don your bonnet and go at once out of doors and take a walk. Don't be foolish just because somebody told you foolish stories about these things.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.