Page:Sexology.djvu/202

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blue, make gentle frictions on the mother's abdomen; force your index finger under the armpit of the child, and draw gently.

When the child is born, and it breathes, turn its face from the motlier, and from the discharges, lest, during an inspiration, it draws in some of the fluids. If it cries, so much the better: that will cause a long inspiration, and expand its chest.

Do not be in a hurry now: there is no necessity.

How and when to cut the Cord. Having your string and scissors at hand, as soon as the cord ceases pulsating, tie a cord about it, an inch and a half from the navel; then put another ligature two inches from that, and cut between them. Then take a soft napkin, and wrap it around the child, so that, in its slimy condition, it may not slip from the hands; and place it in a smooth blanket in a safe place.

The After-Birth (Placenta). With your right hand, take hold of the cord, and put it on the stretch; place your left hand on the abdomen of the patient. If the abdomen is not very much collapsed, and the womb does not feel like a round ball that you can grasp with the hand, there may he a twin-laly. But if the abdomen is sunken, and the womb contracted, wait for a pain; and, when it comes, pull gently, but steadily, at the cord. It will probably be felt to follow the pull; if not, do not pull hard, lest you break it, and have no means to get it out. It may take one or two more pains.

Sometimes the womb, being rid of the greatest part of its contents, remains inactive, and suffers the placenta to remain for a time. In this case, gentle frictions should be made on the abdomen, and the womb gently pressed, so as to excite contractions.

Should you, by accident, separate the cord from the pla-