Complications of Pregnancy : Blood-Pressure, Insomnia, Headache

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

(Page 8 of 43)

Backache

The backache of the later months of expectancy is very annoying and often spoils an otherwise restful night's sleep. This is probably also a pressure symptom, if the physician's analysis of the urine proves that the kidneys are not at fault. If you have electric lights in the home, a very useful contrivance can be made which will give you great relief. The light end of an extension cord, five to seven feet in length, is soldered into the center of the bottom of a bright, pressed tin pail about twelve inches in diameter at the top and nine or ten inches deep.

With the bail removed, screw in a sixteen or thirty-two candle power bulb and attach the extension cord to a nearby wall or ceiling socket. This arrangement supplies radiant heat and is called a photophore. Apply this twofold remedial agent - light and heat combined - to the painful back (underneath the bed clothing) and our restless mother will go to sleep very quickly. This may safely be used as often and as long as desired.

Persistent, prolonged, and very much aggravated cases of morning sickness are termed pernicious vomiting. The patient emaciates because of the lack of ability to keep food long enough to receive any benefits.

In treating these cases the sufferer should be put to bed in a room with many open windows, or, if the weather permit, should be out of doors on a comfortable cot. She should remain in bed one hour before the meal is served and from one to three hours afterward. The mind should be diverted from her condition by good reading, friends, or other amusements. The utmost care and tact should be used in the preparation of her food, and art should be manifested in the daintiness of the tray, etc.

We found one mother was nauseated even at the sight of her tray and so we planned a call that should bring us to her home at the meal hour. The tray came in with the attendant in unkempt attire, who said, as she placed it carelessly down on a much-loved book our patient had been reading: "I heard you say you liked vegetable soup so I brought you a big bowl full." As I gazed at the tray, I saw a large, thick, gravy bowl running over with the soup. I usually like vegetable soup, but at the sight of that sloppy looking bowl - well, I thought I should never care for it again.

After installing a new maid who had a sense of service and daintiness, and who took real pleasure in the selection of the dishes for the tray, as well as the quality and quantity of food served in them, our patient made speedy recovery, went on to full term and became a happy mother.

There is no doubt that the mind has very much to do with this vexing complication of pregnancy. One mother immediately stopped vomiting everything she ate when told by her husband that "the doctor said he was coming in the morning to take you away from me to the hospital if you didn't stop vomiting." Everything known should be tried for the relief of these patients and in extreme cases, when the mother's life is endangered, pregnancy should be terminated.

Insomnia

The neutral full bath, temperature 97 F., maintained for twenty minutes to one-half hour, should be taken just on going to bed. The patient must not talk - must rest in the bath - absolutely quiet. The causes of insomnia should be determined if possible, and proper measures employed to remove them. They may consist of backache, cramps, frequent urination, pressure of the uterus on the diaphragm or pressure against the sides of the abdomen. The bed should be large, therefore giving the patient ample room to roll about.

The following procedures may be tried in an effort to relieve the sleeplessness:

Rubbing of the spine, alcohol or witch-hazel rubbing of the entire body, the neutral bath, or the application of the electric photophore - described a few pages back - may be made to the painful part. Do not resort to drugs, unless you are directed to do so by your physician.

Headache

Headaches should not be allowed to continue unobserved by the attending physician. Measure the daily output of urine, which should be at least three pints or two quarts. In case of daily or frequent headaches, notify your physician at once and take a twenty-four hour specimen of urine to him. Headache is an early symptom of retained poisons and if early reported to the physician quick relief can be given the patient and often severe kidney complications be avoided by the proper administration of early sweating procedures. Water drinking should be increased to two quarts (about ten glasses) a day. Less food and more water are the usual indications in the headaches of pregnancy.

High Blood-Pressure

Blood-pressure is called high when the systolic pressure registers above 150 to 160 millimeters of mercury. Pressure above 165 should be taken seriously and the patient should keep in close touch with her physician. Tri-weekly examinations of the urine should be made, while eliminating baths should be promptly instituted. The subject of blood-pressure in relation to pregnancy will be fully dealt with in the next chapter - in connection with toxemia, eclampsia, etc.

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.