and sometimes these chops do so encrease by the Childs sucking that the Niple's taken quite off the Breast and there rests an Ulcer very hard to be cur'd This may happen from the Childs being so dry and hungry that it hath not patience to suck softly but finding the Milk not speedily to follow as they desire bite and pinch the Niple so hard that it becomes raw and at last take it quite away This happens also when Infants have hot mouths or thrushes or the pox soonest These must not be neglected as well because of the great pain as to avoid their growing worse and worse Therefore as soon as they begin forbear giving suck keeping back her milk for a small time and if but one Niple be sore she may suckle with the other Applying Allum or Lime-water or only bath them with Plantain water puting soft rags dipt in any of them or a ceruse plaister or Diapompholigos or a little starch powdred but chiefly take care that nothing be apply'd to distate the Child wherefore many use only Honey of Roses Softening remedies are fit to preserve from chops but when they are already made dryers are best and to prevent her from hurts in these parts and that the rags may not stick to them put upon them a little Wax or wooden caps or leaden ones they being more drying like these in the Figure having several small holes on their tops as well to give issue to the matter as that the Milk may pass away If the Nipples are wholly suck'd off then dry the Milk up and if the Child have the pox put it to another who must use preservatives against it but if they be only small simple Ulcers i' th Mouth without any Malignity wash them only with Barley water with a little juice of Citrons or Lemons and let the Nurse use a cooling dyet and bleed and purge if necessary The Child can take no hold when the Nipples are quite gone and the small holes are closed up but if she shall desire to give suck let Woman by degrees make her new Nipples after the Ulcer's perfectly heal'd and unstop the root of the old ones or using an Instrument of Glass as in the Figure she may suck them her self 5 or 6 times a day and to preserve them and shape them thus drawn out from sinking into the Breasts again let her put a small cap upon them as before and so by degrees she may give suck again Dr. Thus far good Mrs. Eutrapelia have you expressed your self very knowingly in your Art as to what we have hitherto treated of concerning Women there now remains something that I would be satisfied of how far your skill consists in and that is concerning the Diseases of little Children because you coming often to visit the Mother if any thing be a miss about her Infant it is a common custome to desire the advice of the Midwife in such cases rather then run presently to the Physitian or Chirurgion But first let me hear your opinion about the choice of a Nurse Mid. Sir as I have been very happy to have satisfied you to the best of my knowledge in what concerns Women before in and after their Lying in Child-bed so likewise shall I answer your request as to what concerns little Children and the Distempers and Symptoms happening to them and first of the nature and qualities of the Nurse and if the Mother be the fittest Nurse PART IV. Of the Diseases and Symptoms happening to little Children and of the choice of a Nurse SECT I. What manner of Woman a Nurse ought to be and whether the Mother be the best Nurse Mid. FIrst of all Sir there is and hath been always divers opinions concerning Nurses whether the Mother be fittest for that office or a stranger as for what my thoughts are concerning the matter with submission to your better judgment in this and all other cases I shall fully disclose them to you Now Sir some are for the Mothers sucking her own Child and will bring you Scripture for it too for say they did not Sarah Nurse Isaac therefore every Woman ought to Nurse her own Child but this is but a weak Argument for from Scripture to retort their Argument on them David was a King and a Prophet therefore every man must be a King and every King a Prophet others again give you profound reasons as they imagine as that the Mothers milk is most convenient for the Child because it partakes of her nature But I would ask these People whether every Cholerick Woman hath Cholerick Children or every Phlegmatick Woman Phlegmatick Children and so of the rest Another reason is because the Woman they say cannot love her Child unless she give it suck her own self But if she do not for all that in my opinion she is very inhumane and unnatural Others again are of a quite contrary opinion and thwart all this for first say these the Child draws its conditions from its Nurse to prove which they quote several examples as Alcibiades being an Athenian was so strong and valiant because he suck'd a Spartan Woman but Cornelius Tacitus says the Germans were such strong bon'd men because they suck'd their own Mothers then why had not Alciliades been so if he had suck'd his But all Authors generally describing of what complexion and condition a Nurse ought to be if every Woman then must Nurse her own Child any complexion must then of necessity serve the turn Since the choice of a Nurse is of so great a concernment as upon which the future being of the infant consists surely this then requires many serious considerations For though she may have milk enough yet perhaps not good enough or the woman either sluttish or unhandy or careless in the swathing and the dressing of the Child by which many children like new vessels which will keep the savour of that liquor they are first seasoned withal are sluttish or slovenly so long as they live or else being abused at Nurse are Crooked and Ricketty full of botches nasty and nauseous to their own Parents And many through their intemperancy by drinking to encrease their milk and perhaps make it bad enough sleep so securely and profoundly that they overlay their Nurseries in the night and the Children are dead by their sides in the morning Therefore let nurses sleep so often that they may hear the least cry of the infant Let the Nurse then be of middle stature and good complexion active not fat and of a sanguine complexion if possible and not in poverty not under twenty years of Age not above forty but rather of twenty five or thirty Let not her nipples be great least it make the child of a wide mouth because it cannot suck without the contraction of the lips together and lest by forcing the Tongue into too narrow a compass it hinders the swallowing of the milk Next if the nipple be too small the child is apt to
carries them away And now to come home to the purpose let me tell you the first and principal of all the qualities in a good Nurse is that she be the Child 's own Mother as well because of the mutual sympathy of their tempers as that having much more love for it she will be much more careful then an hired Nurse who commonly loves her Nurse Child but with a feined love so that the Mother though she be not the best Nurse should always be prefer'd before another But because there are divers that either will not or cannot suckle their own Children there is then an Obligation to provide another Nurse which should be chosen for the Child 's good as near as may be For even as we see trees of the same kind and growing in the same yet being afterwards transplanted to another Soil do produce fruits of a different taste by reason of the nourishment they draw from thence even so it fares with the health of Children and their manners sometimes depend on the nourishment they receive at the beginning for as the health of the body answers to the humors that all the parts are nourished with which humors always retain the nature of the food whereof they are engendred and as for the manners they commonly follow the temperament which likewise proceeds from the nature of the humors and the humors from the food from whence may be drawn this consequence that as the Nurse is so will the Child be both in body and mind by means of the nourishment it draws from her This may plainly appear in Animals that suck a strange dam for they always purchase something of the nature of the Creature they suck being accordingly either of a mild or fierce nature of a strong or weak body as may be seen in young Lions which will become tame by sucking a domestic Animal as a Cow Ass or Goat and on the other side a Dog will become more furious if it sucks a Wolf Now the necessary conditions requisite in a good Nurse are usually taken from her Age the time and manner of her Labor the Constitution of all the parts of her Body and particularly of her Breasts the nature of her Milk and lastly from her manners As concerning her Age the most convenient is from 25 to 35 years of Age Then as to the time and manner of her Labor it must be at least a month or 6 weeks after that and not above 5 or 6 months she must not have miscarried and she must have layn in of a 2d or third Child that she may know the better how to perform her Office As to the healthful constitution of her body 't is the principal thing on which almost all the rest depend for she ought to come of Parents that never had the stone in the Reins or Bladder or Gout Kings-Evil Falling-sickness or any other hereditary distemper that she have no Scab or Itch and that she be strong neither too tall nor too low not too fat nor too lean and above all she must not be with Child let her be of a Sanguine Complexion which is known by her Vermilion color not altogether so red but inclining to white of a firm fast flesh not subject to the Whites for that 's a sign of a bad habit not red hair'd nor mark'd with red spots but black hair'd or of a Chesnut brown neat in her Cloaths of a sprightly Eye and a smiling countenance sound and white Teeth for if they be rotten her breath may smell having a good voice to please and rejoice the Child and a clear and free pronuntiation that the Child learn not an ill accent from her as usually red hair'd have and sometimes those that are very black hair'd with white Skins for their Milk is hot sharp and stinking and also of an ill Tast Her Breasts ought to be pretty big to receive and concoct a sufficient quantity of milk being sound and free from scars proceeding from former Impostumes being indifferent firm and fleshy that their natural heat may be the stronger she must be broad breasted that her Milk may have the more room to be prepared and digested in and because 't is a sign of a great deal of vital heat As to her Nipples they must be well shap'd as you observ'd not too big nor too hard nor gristly nor sunk in too deep but they must be a little raised and of a moderate bigness and firmness with many little holes that she may be soft milch'd to the end the Child may not take too much pains to draw the milk by sucking them and pressing them with its Mouth All these good qualities being found in a Nurse respecting all the parts of her Body there needs be no fear but her Milk will be good The which may be known first by its quantity the which ought to be sufficient for the Child's nourishment and not too much lest it not being all drawn forth it curdâ—e and inflame the Breast by its too long stay there however it is better to have too much then too little for she may give the overplus to another Child it must not be too waterish nor to thick but of a middle consistence the which may be easily judged if she milking some into her hand and turning it a little on one side it immediately turns off but if it remains fixt 't is a mark 't is too thick and clammy and this if she have but little of it will stick upon the Childs tongue pallate and throat and so cause as it were a white Cancer which is more and more heated by reason of their forceable sucking in vain and they are hereby hindred from sucking These Nurses will after this Milk a drop or two out of their Breasts and cry look ye the Child cares not for sucking There is no greater abuse in any thing then in Nurses for let them make what pretence they will 't is nothing but necessity makes them be such and therefore Mothers ought to have a great care and to make it their business to surprize the Nurse at her own House that if there be any miscarriage they may find it out As to the colour of her Milk the whitest is the best and the less white it is so much the worse it must be of a sweet and pleasant smell which is a sign of a good temper as may be seen in red hair'd Women whose Milk hath a sour bad scent and to be compleat in every quality it must be of a good taste that is sweet and sugar'd without any sharpness or saltness or other strong tast Lastly to come to the principal and best conditions of a Nurse which consists in her good manners I say that she ought to be careful to cleanse the Child as soon as there is occasion she ought to be prudent not Cholerick nor quarrelsome as well because it may make bad impressions on the Child as because it heats her
for being so turned and doubled the child must of necessity be strangled in the womb Having tâ—…s run through births as well natural as unnatural I shall give you the reason and that in my own opinion why these births are of so various and different postures in the womb observing not alwaies the same posture and 't is because the Infant swiming in water and moving it self sometimes this way sometimes that way or moy'd by its mother as you have heard before is bent and tumbled several waies insomuch that sometimes it is strangely entangled with its own navil-cord which I am confident you have seen in your own experience oftentimes and shall now in the next place desire you to let me know which way you use to go to work when a dead Child is to be delivered from its Mother and she alive SECT XXXII Of delivering of a Woman of a dead Child MId Sir I shall most willingly consent to your demand as far as I shall be able in this always so long and dangerous a Labor which is because for the most part it comes wrong or though it comes right with the Head yet the Womans pains are so weak and slow in these cases that she cannot bring it forth and sometimes she hath none at all forasmuch as nature half overthrown by the death of the Child which cannot help it self labors so little that many times it cannot finish the business it hath begun but must yeild without the help of art of which at such a time it hath great need However before ever I may settle to your work I 'll endeavor to stir up the Womans pains with strong and sharp clysters to bring on her throws and to bear down and bring forth the Child and if these means prevail not she must then be delivered by the help of art Now if there be any case wherein a Midwife ought to make the greatest reflection and use most precaution in her Art it is this that is to know whether the Infant in the Womb be living or dead for there have been many deplorable examples of Childrens being drawn forth alive after they have been thought to have been dead with both Arms or some other limb lopt off and others miserably kill'd by the use of crotchets which might have been born alive if they had not been mistaken wherefore before the Midwife resolves on the manner of laying the Woman to avoid the like misfortune and the disgrace of being author of such a pitiful spectacle let her do her utmost endeavour not to be so deceiv'd and to be wholly satisfied whether the Child be alive or dead always remembring in this case that timidity is more pardonable then temerity that is it is better to be deceived in treating a dead Infant as if in case it were a live then a living one as if it were dead Now besides what hath been said before concerning knowing whether the Child be alive or not you must not always put your whole confidence in the first place in the Womans telling you that the Child is certainly alive because it stirs and though to be the better assur'd the Midwife may lay her hand on the Mothers belly for there have been Women sometimes delivered whose Children had been dead about 4 days as might be easily judged by their corruption who notwithstanding have affirmed though untruly that they felt them stir but a little before they were delivered and others again whose Children were alive and yet their Mothers never perceived them to stir in three or 4 days before as they confessed Now if the Midwife cannot be assured by the Childs motion that it is alive she may assoon as the waters are broke gently put up her hand into the Womb to feel for the breaking of the Navil-string the which she will find to be stronger the nearer she feels it to the Infants belly or if she meets with in hand she may feel the pulse but their pulses you must know are not so strong as their Navil-strings therefore the best to be known by it if then also by putting her finger into the Childs mouth she perceive it to stir its Tongue as if it would suck and on the contrary if no such signs and the Mother feel a great weight and great pains in her belly and it be not supported but tumbles always on the side she lays her self if she faints and have Convulsion Fits if the Navil-string or secondine hath been a good while in the World and if the Midwife by putting her hand into the Womb finds the Child cold and feeling she finds that very soft chiefly towards the crown where likewise thâ— bones are open and riding one upon the other at the clefts or Sutares because thâ— brain shrinks which corrupts more in 2 dayâ— in the Womb than it doth in 4 after it iâ— born which is caused by the heat and moistness of the place the 2 principals of corruption and if there comes a dark and stinking putrid matter from the Womb all thesâ— signs together or most of them demonstratâ— to the ingenious Midwife that the Child iâ— assuredly dead the which when she is certain of she must do her endeavor to fetch iâ— away as soon as possibly she can and having placed the Woman conveniently if thâ— Child offers its head first she must gently puâ— it back until she hath liberty to introduâ—… her hand wholly into the Womb and sliding it all along under the belly to find the Feet let her draw it forth by them being verâ— careful to keep the head from being lock'â— in the passage and that it be not separateâ— from the body which may easily happeâ— when the Child being very rotten and putrifi'd she doth not observe the circumstanceâ— that we spake of before that is in drawing forth the Child to keep its breast and face always downwards And if notwithstanding all these precautions the head because of the great putrefaction should be separated and left behind in the Womb it must be left to be drawn forth by the expert Physitian or Chyrurgion The same also is to be said when the Head is so far advanced coming first and engaged among the bones of the passage that it cannot be put back then being very sure by all the signs together or most of the chief of them that the Child is dead certainly 't is better to let the Surgeon draw it so forth it being a round slippery part with crotchets then torment the Woman to put it back Now if the dead Child whereof above all there must be good assurance comes with its arms up to it shoulders so extreamly swelled that the Woman must suffer too much violence to have it put back 't is best then as was said before to take it off at the shoulder joint by twisting it 3 or 4 times about then afterwards the Midwife will have more room to put up her hand into the Womb the arm being so separated
with juice of Oranges or Lemons Verjuice or rose vinegar or eat after Meals a little Marmelade of Quinces and she must forbear fat meat and sauces for they soften the Skins of the Stomach which are weak and loose by vomitings and also sweet sauces But if for all this that it continues although the Woman be above half gone 't is a clear sign there are cleave corrupt humors to the inward sides of the Stomach which must be purged by stool to effect which give half a dram of Rhubard a dram or two at most of Sena infuss'd in posset-Ale to which streined add an ounce of Syrup of Succory which dissolves the humors and in voiding them comforts the parts or you may give her Cassia and Tamarinds always adding a little Rhubarb or syrup of Succory compound If once be not enough repeat it some few days respite between If it continues for all this you must rest here lest some worse thing happen for she is then in great danger of miscarrying and if the Hiccoup takes them from too much emptiness by vomiting and purging 't is very bad as Hippocrates Prince and oracle of Physick teacheth us As for great Cupping-glasses which some advice to be applied to the Stomach to keep it in its place I believe it 's a chip in Potage because the Stomach is loose and no way cleaving to this upper part of the Belly But since these vomitings cool and weaken it I should advise them to wear a piece of Scarlet or Flannel or Lamb-skin which would help digestion SECT IV. Of the pains of the Back Loins Reins and Hips ALL these Accidents are but the effects of the widening of the Womb and the compression it makes on the Neighboring parts by its weight These are greater the first time she is with Child for afterwards the Womb only receives the same dimensions it had before and the cords which hold it in its natural place as well round as large suffer a greater stress being much drawn and streightned by the bigness and weight of the Womb to wit the large ones those of the Back and Loins which answer to the Reins because these two strings are strongly fast'ned towards these parts and the round ones cause those of the Groins Share and Thighs where they end These are sometimes so much stretch'd by this weight and higness of the Womb that they are torn chiefly if the Woman chance to have a false step which causes very great pains and other worse accidents as it happened to a certain Woman being six months gone of her first Child who felt the like after she had stumbled and perceived at the same time something crack towards her Reins and Loins which was one of the large cords made a noise by the suddain jolt she receiv'd at the same instant she felt extream pains in her Reins and Loins and all one side of her belly which caused her immediately to vomit very often with much violence and the next day was taken with a great continued Feaver which lasted seven or eight days without being able to sleep or rest one hour all that time she vomited all she took with a strong and frequent Hiccoup and great pains which seem'd as if they would hasten her Labor which I was very apprehensive of as also of her death but by the help of God causing her immediately to be put to Bed where she rested 12 whole days she was thrice let blood in her Arm on several days and took a grain of Laudanum at twice in the yelk of an Egg a little to ease her violent pains by giving her rest taking also from time to time good strengthening Cordials so that all these Symptoms which at first seemed desperate ceased by little and little and she went out her full time and then was happily delivered of a Son which lived 15 months notwithstanding all those mischievours accidents befel her which were enough to have kil'd half a dozen others but God sometimes is pleased to work Miracles by nature assisted with remedies fit for the purpose as well as by his Grace And also the Womb causeth the pains of the Hips by its weight in bearing too much upon them And assure your selves there is nothing will ease all these pains better then to rest in Bed and bleed i' th Arm if there be any great extension or breaking of any cord of the Womb as was in this case and when the Womb bears too much upon the Hips if she cannot keep her Bed she must support her Belly with a broad swaith SECT V. Of the pains of the Breasts AS soon as a Woman conceives her monthly blood wanting ordinary evatuation and she daily breeding blood there is a necessity she consuming but little whilst first with Child that the Vessels being too full should discharge part as it doth upon the parts dispos'd to receive it such as the kernelly parts especially the Breasts which suck up a great quantity of it which swelling them causes this pain which she feels and happens also to those whose Terms are only stop'd To ease her we ought in the beginning to leave it to Nature the chief Physitian and she must only have a care she receive no blows thereon nor be streight laced but after the third or fourth month the blood being still sent to the Breasts in great store 't is much better to evacuate it by bleeding in the Arm then to turn it back upon some other part by repercussive or binding Medicines because it cannot flow to any part where it can do less hurt than these and to shun the accident oâ— which Hippocrates speaks in his 40th Aphorism of the 5th book If Blood be carried in too great abundance to the Breasts it shews thâ— Woman is in danger of being Frantick because of the transport which may be madâ— thence of the brain whcih is voided by moderate bleeding i' th Arm and a regular cooling dyet moderately nourishing SECT VI. Of involuntary voiding and stoping of Urine THE seat of the Bladder which is just upon the Womb is sufficient to instruct us why Women with Child are sometimes troubled with difficulty of Urine and why often they cannot hold their water which is caused 2 ways 1. because the Womb by its bigness and weight presses the bladder so that 't is hindred from its ordinary extension and so incapable of containing a reasonable quantity of Urine which is the cause the bigger she grows and the nearer her time the oftner she's compelled to make water 2. if the weighty burthen of the Womb doth very much press the bottom of the bladder it forceth the Woman to make water every moment but if the neck of it be pressed it is fil'd full with Urine being not able to expel it because the Sphincter Muscle in this compression cannot be opened to let it out which causes great pain Sometimes by its sharpness stirs up the bladder often by pricking it to discharge it self and
diseases ensue upon their stopping are almost innumerable so that to bring them down let her avoid all troubles of Spirit lye quiet with her Head and Breast a little rais'd if Feaverish use only broths with a little gelly above all shun cold drink give Clysters and foment her lower parts rub her Thighs and Legs downwards and bath them too and apply large Cupping-Glasses to the uppermost part of the inside of her Thighs bleed i' th Arm first if very full of humors for i' th Foot would draw too much to the Womb. SECT VII Of the Inflammation c. of the Womb. THis is very dangerous and the death of most caused from the Lochia stopt or bruise by two hard swathes falling out o' th Womb c. an Impostume or Cancer follows a bruise if not death wherefore temper the heat and humors first extracting or causing the expulsion of strange things remaining i' th Womb using not the least violence with Veal or Pullet broth with Lettice Purselan Succory Sorrel abstain from Wine keep quiet in Bed with anodine Clysters and bleed i' th Arm not i' th Foot reiterate it because 't is very pressing till the greatest part of fulness be a little evacuated an inflammation diminished then i' th Foot if need injecting in the Womb Barley water with Oil of Violets or milk An Apostume Schyrrhus or Cancer is the Physitians or Chyrurgions work SECT VIII Of the Inflammation and Apostemation of the Breasts THe Breasts being made of a spungy substance easily receive in too great abundance the humors flowing to them from all parts by blood being over-heat by throws and pains in travel and so are soon inflam'd being then painfully stretch'd to which helps the suppression of the Lochia and a fulness of the whole Body or it may happen from having been too streight lac'd some blow or bruise by lying upon them or for not giveing the Child milk Now convenient remedies are speedily to be applied lest dangerous symptoms follow wherefore the certainst means to hinder the Flux of so great quantity of blood to the Breasts is to procure a large evacuation of the Lochia the habit of the body is to be emptied by bleeding i' th the Arm after i' th Foot chasing into the breasts Oil of Roses and Vinegar beat together laying upon them unguentum refrigerens Galeni or unguentum album and a 3d part of populeon mixt or a pultis of the setlings in a Cutler's Grinstone-trough Oil of Roses and a little Vinegar mixt together If the pain continue great take the crums of white bread and milk with Oil of Roses and the yelks of raw Eggs upon all these may compresses be laid dipt in Vinegar and water or plantain water When you have emptied the greatest part of the humors and the height of the Inflammation is past then draw the milk or else unless it be turn'd to matter pure Honey laid to them resolves milk or a Cabbage leaf anointed therewith being first a little wither'd and the hard stalks and veins taken away lace not too streight nor apply course clothes A whole red Cabbage boil'd in River water to a pap and well bruised in a wooden or Marble Mortar and pulp'd through a Sieve adding Oil of Comomil is a very good pultis Let her dyet be cool not very nourishing keep her body open lying on her Back in Bed all the while stir her Arms as little as may be and after the 14th or 15th day of her delivery being sufficiently cleansed and inflammation abated and no longer Feaverish purge her once or twice and if for all these the swelling goes not down but she feels great beating and pain a hardness more in one place then another of a livid color and soft i' th middle 't is certain 't will apostemate then apply ripening Medicines as a pultis of Mallows Marsh-Mallows with their roots Lilly roots and Linseed bruis'd boil'd to pap and pulp'd through a sieve then add a good quantity of Hogs Grease or Basilicon laying a little cloth thick spread with Basilicon upon the place where 't is likely soonest to break and the pultis all over it renewing it 12 hours after continuing till it be full ripe then if it open not of it self it must be open'd by a Lancet or Incision knife which being the Chirurgeon's work he is to do it SECT IX Of the curdling of the Milk in the Breasts BEcause her Body was much mov'd dureing Labor in the beginning of Child-bed her Milk is not well purified and is mixt with many other humors which if 01 they are then sent to the Breasts in too great quantity cause an Inflammation but when the Child hath suck'd 15 or 20 or more days then only the Milk without other mixture contain'd there which sometimes curdles and the Brests become hard and rugged without any redness and the separation of all the kernels fill'd with curdled Milk may easily be perceived she finds a great pain and cannot milk them with a shivering chiefly about the middle of her Back like Ice which is usually follow'd by a Feaver of 24 hours long and sometimes less if it do not turn into an Inflammation of the Breasts which it will undoubtedly do if it be not emâ—ied scater'd and dissolv'd This clodding comes mostly because the Breasts are not fully drawn either for that she hath too much Milk or the Child is too weak to such all or because she doth not desire to be a Nurse for the Milk staying in the Breasts looseth its sweetness and by sowring curdles This may also happen from taking cold or not covering her Breasts The readiest and surest remedy from what cause soever is speedily to draw the Breasts till they be empty'd and if the Child cannot because she is hard milched let a Woman till it comes freely and then the Child will and that she may not after breed more Milk then the Child can draw let her dyet breed but little nourishment and keep her body always open But when she neither can nor will be Nurse then her Breasts must not be drawn for drawing more humors the Disease will return if not again emptied Wherefore 't is necessary to prevent comeing of any more Milk and to scatter that which is there by empting the fulness of the body by bleeding i' th Arm and Foot and strong Clysters and purging if needfull and to resolve the curdled Milk apply a pultis of pure Honey or of powder of Linseed Fenugreek Beans and Vetches boild in a decoction of Sage Smallage Fennel Milk adding Oil of Camomil anointing with the Oil first SECT X. Of Choping c. and loss of the Nipples WOmen are subject the first time to have their Niples chop'd which is unsufferable and the more if hard milch'd as the first time when the Milk hath not yet made way through the small holes of the Niples which are not yet thorowly open'd and then the Child takes more pains to suck
let it slip out of the mouth and cannot handsomely hold it so that the infant being frustrated of suck and yet still exercising suckling hurts the cheek and attracts some kind of humors thither which oftentimes become unnatural Tumors and oftentimes the cheeks of the infant seem as if they were moved out of their places Thirdly by the consent of all the Nurse must have a large breast though some think that not so material because there is more milk collected together in great breasts than ought and being there is corrupted to the prejudice of the Nurse Wherefore lest the milk should continue there too long it is best to have a young lusty child to suck it away or else to use it some other way as by the use of young whelps whom I have seen dye with sucking Womens milk surely the reason must be because the milk was of another nature or else because curdled and corrupted or milked out some other way especially when the Nurse perceives her self prejudiced by it But it is ever best that she abound rather than want Milk and then in this case it is best they be big though all Nurses need not have big breasts for there may be as much Milk if not more in a lesser breast than in a great one The next enquiry will be into the manners and behaviour of a Nurse The best Nurse then is she that is mild chaste sober courteous chearful lively neat cleanly and handy because bad conditions as well as good are suck'd in with the milk and so radicated that it is a hard matter to pull out the bad conditions and leave the good behind but that there will be a remainder of the bad conditions perhaps so long as they live wherefore let not the Nurse be of an angry malepert and saucy disposition shameless scolding or quarrelsome not gluttonous but so careful of her Nursery that she neither eat or drink that which may be hurtful to the Infant That she do nothing to anger her self to grieve or sad her self for such passions will presently distribute themselves to the prejudice of the Infant than which there is nothing of more efficacy to destroy the goodness of the Milk Neither is it sufficient that they abstain from the use of their husbands but when they have wanton thoughts and lascivious minds wholly upon Luxury and Venery they cast off all care of the Nurseries and dreaming at night of that which their minds run on in the day and by other filthy pollutions they infect the milk So also by the use of their Husbands the Courses are stirred up by which both the plenty and goodness of milk is derived another way and so the Child robbed of its nutriment or else the Nurse conceiveth with Child and so the Infant becometh diseased and Ricketty by sucking curdy and unwholsome milk and is worse for it during life Therefore let all those things be avoided that either do or are supposed to provoke lust as junkets made with spices also Onions Leeks Garlick and all salt meats are to be avoided Persly and Smallage some say have a peculiar malice to the increase of milk besides that it doth increase lust and is an enemy to the growth of Infants Again that Nurse were best that hath lately been brought to bed of a Boy if to Nurse a Boy the milk of such a Nurse being better tempered For the milk of a Male Child will make a Female Nursery more spritely and a man like Virago and the milk of a girl will make a boy the more effeminate As to the milk let it be a mean betwixt thick and thin which you may perceive by dropping it upon the Thumb-Nails for if it be too thin it will run off the sooner but if thicker it will stay the longer let it be sweet and pleasant both to the smell and taste not offending the palate with rancidness sourness sharpness or saltness or the nostrils with any strange quality Let it be candid to the sight in it self equal in each particles not infested with brown yellow green blue or any other evil colour or as sometimes with various colours and substance as with lines and streaks upon it but let that milk be most praise-worthy that makes as much curd as whey which may be tryed by this Experiment viz. Put some of this milk into a glass and puâ— in some Myrrh or Rennet which being stirred together will curd and then may the contents be separated the tryal is that iâ— there be most whey then is the milk thinneâ— in its substance but if most of curd 't is thicker yet all these may be corrected and amended for that which is too thick may be mended by an extenuating diet and the flegmatick matter may be avoided by a vomit of Oxymel and Exercise before meat the better to consume and attenuate the thickness of it The thinness of Milk is amended by contrary food such as doth incrassate it as Fromenty of Wheat and Rice Hogs-feet Calves-feet Trotters and sweet Wine unless somewhat else be in the way to hinder it Sometimes it happens that the Milk is more tart than it ought to be wherefore then all diligence must be had to feed upon such meats as are of the best juice till that acrimony at least be attempered Sometimes there is little or no milk in the breasts as after some sickness or notable distemper now turned into a bad habit or any other of what kind soever that possesseth those parts or is the cause but that shall not be our business to consider of now Now if these be not the causes let the Nurse use supping meats as Broths Possets c. and eat plentifully and use rubbings to her Breasts and Duggs exercising her hands and her Arms by domestick Employments or instead thereof let her dance the Child by which the aliment may be recalled into those parts Sometimes cupping-glasses to the Breasts with a fomentation of emollient herbs boiled in water and applied warm either with sponges or wollen-clothes after which chafe them with oyl of Lillies The seeds of Fennel and the roots of Parsnips boiled in Barley-water and buttered The broth of Hens or Capons with Cinnamon and Mace Or Poch'd-eggs with the seeds of Annis and Dill and all things else that are hot in the first and second degree are good Earth Worms not dung-hill ones six or seven of them dried and powdered and drank in Barley-water sugared for a fortnight together All these may be of good use in the defect of Milk As to the inconveniency if there be any in too much Milk If the Milk abound too much which sometimes is though seldome blamable Then use the decoction of Myrtleberries and red Roses and with clothes dipped in it lay them on the Breasts Or else clothes imbibed in Vinegar wherein Cummin-seeds bruised have been infused with Myrrh and Camphire By reason of the thickness of the Milk all those excrements that the Child
a Woman newly layd p. 247 Sect. 4. Of the bruises and rents of the outward parts of the Womb caused by Labors p. 252 Sect. 5. Of the After-pains p. 254 Sect. 6. Of the Lochia whence they come if good or bad their stopping and what ensues p. 255 Sect. 7. Of the Inflammation c. of the Womb. p. 258 Sect. 8. Of the Inflammation and Apostemation of the Breasts p. 259 Sect. 9. Of the curdling of the Milk in the Breasts p. 262 Sect. 10. Of Choping c. and loss of the Nipples p. 265 PART IV. Of the Diseases and Symptoms happening to little Children and of the choice of a Nurse SEct. 1. What manner of Woman a Nurse ought to be and whether the Mother be the best Nurse p. 269 Sect. 2. Of the Diseases and Symptoms which happen to Children and first of their Diseases in general p. 291 Sect. 3. Of Feavers Meazels and Small-Pox in little Children p. 293 Sect. 4. Of the milky scab Achores Scald-Head and Lice p. 295 Sect. 5. Of the watry swelling of the Head p. 298 Sect. 6. Of Fright in the Sleeps and Watchings p. 299 Sect. 7. Of the Falling-sickness and Convulsion p. 301 Sect. 8. Of pain in the Ears Moisture Vlcers and Worms p. 302 Sect. 9. Of the Thrush bladders of the Gums and Inflammation of the Tonsils p. 303 Sect. 10. Of the breeding of Teeth p. 304 Sect. 11. Of a Catarrh Cough and difficult breathing p. 305 Sect. 12. Of the Hiccup and Vomiting p. 307 Sect. 13. Of the pains and puffing of the Belly p. 309 Sect. 14. Of the Flux of the Belly p. 311 Sect. 15. Of Costiveness p. 312 Sect. 16. Of Worms p. 313 Sect. 17. Of the Rupture p. 314 Sect. 18. Of Bunching out and inflammation of the Navil p. 315 Sect. 19. Of the falling out of the Fundament p. 316 Sect. 20. Of difficulty and stopping of Vrine p. 317 Sect. 21. Of not holding Vrine p. 318 Sect. 22. Of Leanness and Bewitching p. 319 SECT I. Of the True generation of it Parts and Increase of the Infant in the Womb according to the daies and times till the time of the Birth WHen the Womb whose property it is naturally to receive seed for generation as a Loadstone attracts iron or Jeat straws or feathers hath received the seed and by its virtue hath shut it up for generation Presently from the first day until the sixth or seventh there grow and arise very many and very small fibres or hairs beginning with a hot motion by which vital heat the Liver with its chiefest organs are generated as this following Figure may the more illustrate The small Fibres In the one of which branches there is a collection of blood of which first the liver is generated From whence it easily appears the liver is a congealed and concrete blood and also it may be manifest how many and various veins it hath prepared and fitted for the attractive and expulsive virtue But in the other branch are generated those webs oâ— veins with the dilatation of other veins as oâ— the stomach spleen and intestines in the lower part of the belly And from hence immediately all veins are collected together as so many branches into one trunk in the upper web of the liver towards the hollow veinâ—… and this trunk by and by sends down brancheâ— to make the midriff and directs not a few branches to the lower parts even to the very thighs and then the heart with its arteries extended into seed from the navil iâ— generated by a vital virtue and is directeâ— towards the spine of the back as is demonstrated in this figure 3. But those do attract the hottest and more subtile blood of which the heart is generated incased in a membrane naturally fleshy and thick necessary upon the account of so â—ot a member But the hollow vein extendâ—ng it self and penetrating the inward conâ—avity of the right side in the heart c. deâ—ives thence blood for the nourishment of the â—eart From the same branch also of this his vein and in the same part another vein ariseth called by some the immoveable or quiet vein because according to the account of the pulsation of other veins it beats not at all but lies quiet ordained for this end that it should let go the purest blood to the Lungs being vested with a double tunicle like an Arterie from whence it is called the Arterial vein But in the left concavity of the heart there are two Arteries that is to say the Venal Arterie and the Great Arterie which carries a great pulse with it and diffuseth the vital Spirits by the blood of the heart into all the Arteries of the Body For as the hollow vein is the original of all veins by which the Body doth attract its whole nourishment of blood so from the Aorta or great Arterie all pulsatile veins are derived diffusing the vital Spirits through the whole Body For the heart is the fountain and original of vital heat without which no creature or member can thrive Under the abovesaid Arterie in the left concavity of the heart another vein ariseth called the Venal Arterie And although that be really a pulsatile vein and doth direct the vital Spirits yet according to the manner of all pulsatile veins that have blood it hath but one coat and therefore made for that end that it should derive the cold air from the Lungs to refresh the heart as also to attemper its over-much heat And veins issuing out from both the cavities of the heart are inserted into the Lungs of which they are formed for the vein that proceeds from the right cavity of the heart produceth the most subtile blood which by small fibres dispersed here and there is changed into the fleshy substance of the lungs But from the great vein of the Liver viz. the Vena Cava or hollow vein the whole brest is generated and so successively the Arms and Thighs Within the time aforesaid also is generated the highest and chiefest part of this noble structure the Brain in the third Region of this mass for the whole mass of seed is filled with the animal Spirits that contracts a great part of the genital moysture and concludes it in a certain cavity wherein the brain may be formed but as to the out-fide it is inveloped with a certain covering which being dried with heat is brought into a boney substance and becomes a scull as appears by this precedent figure But the brain is so formed that it may conceive retain and change the natures of all the vital Spirits from whence also proceed the beginnings of all Reason and of the Senses For as veins have their original from the Liver and as arteries have their rise from the heart so also nerves being of a softer and milder natural existence arise from the brain and are not hollow as the veins are but solid for they are the first and chiefest instruments of all the senses by
well the breasts will be hard but if otherwise they will be flaccid and a waterish humor will flow out of them like to milk of its own accord Secondly if the courses flow too often out of the Womb in the time of child-bearing it is an argument of an unhealthy Child And moreover the fattest Women commonly bring forth the weakest Infants Thirdly if a woman bring Twins the one a Male the other a Female there is great danger of the Female because they are nourished by a different aliment in the Womb but if they be both Females there is the less danger Fourthly if the Child be gotten in the time of the monthly terms they are mixed with untoward humors from whence it is experienced that many leprous Infants are begotten Fifthly if there be superfaetation the last conception seldom liveth Now superfaetation is when a Woman having once conceived conceiveth again after a certain time which sometimes happeneth Sixthly if a Dropsie overtake the big-bellied Woman and that her Nose Ears and Lips look red it is a sign of a dead Child Seventhly if the infant come forth after the ninth month 't is oftentimes very weak Eightly if a virgin conceive before her first flowers it proves lusty and perfect child Dr. So much for Conception Tell me now somewhat of the nourishing of the Child in the Womb c. SECT III. Of the Nutriment of the Child in the Womb and by what nourishment it is preserved and when it groweth up to be an Infant WHilest the young one is in the womb it is nourished by blood attracted by the navil by which it is that women after they have conceived have their terms stop'd for then the infant begins to crave and attracts much blood For the blood presently after-conception is discerned by a three-fold difference The first and purest part of it the young one attracts for nourishment The second less pure and thin the wombforceth upwards by certain veins to the breasts where it becomes milk by which the infant is nourished so soon as it is born The third and more impure part of the blood remains in the womb and floweth out with the secundine both in the birth and after the birth Hence it is that Hippocates saith there is much affinity betwixt the flowers and the milk since the one happeneth to be made out of the other And Galen also by reason of this thing elegantly adviseth that the infant hath more from the mother than from the father for this reason because the seeds are first increased by the menstruous blood and then by these the Infant is presently nourished in the Womb and again being newly born it is nourished with milk And as roots have more nourishment from the earth than the plant from whence they came so also Infants receive more from the Mother than from the Father And hence he saith that it comes to pass that so much more is attributed to the Mother by how much more She contributeth more towards generation If the Infant be formed in 45 days it will stir in 90 days which is the middle time that it lies hid in the Womb for in the ninth month it will come forth and make haste to the birth although Females are oftentimes born in the tenth Month. And so much for the formation increase and perfection of the Infant according to the account of days and times SECT IV. How the Infant doth in the Womb the fifth the sixth the seventh and eighth month and of the due time and form of the Birth and causes of pain in Child-birth AFter the third and fourth month the Infant useth a more plentiful nourishment by which it groweth more and more until the time of Birth shall come Therefore it is to be understood that when it is born in the sixth month it cannot in nature live because though it be formed distinctly yet it is not arrived to its just perfection But if it be born in the seventh month it may easily live because then it is sufficiently perfect And whereas 't is a common opinion those born in the eighth month can rarely live but such as are born in the seventh are often times living because on the seventh month the Infant is ever moving towards the Birth at which time if it be strong enough it comes to the Birth but if not it remaineth in the Womb till it groweth stronger viz. the other two Months After the motion at seven Months end if it be not born it removes it self into some other place of the Womb and is so weakned by that motion that should it come to the birth in the following eighth Month it cannot live by reason of that motion This seems very probable to many but if they that practise deliveries make a rational reflection thereon they shall find that 't is the Matrix alone assisted with the compression of the Muscles of the lower belly and Midriff which cause the expulsion of the Child being stirred up by its weight and not able to be farther extended to contain it and not the Infant for want of nourishment is not able to stay any longer there and so useth its pretended endeavours to come forth and to that purpose kicking strongly it breaks the Membranes with its Feet which contain the waters insomuch as when the Child is naturally Born the skins are alwaies torn before the Head which pressing and thrusting each through the waters before it causeth them to burst out with force Hippocrates admits the 10 month and beginning of the 11. And here I do acknowledge for truth that the ordinary term of going with Child is 9 months but I cannot consent that Children born in the 7 month do oftener live than those born in the 8 but on the contrary I believe the nearer they approach to the term of 9 months the stronger they are and therefore rather live then those born in the 7th which is wholly contrary to the other opinion which they have from Hippocrates and in Egypt and Spain and other places Children born in the 8th month live But they should have considered there may be some difference about Hippocrates's Months viz. whether they were Solar or Lunar a Solar consisting of 30 or 31 days throughout the year and a Lunar of 27 days and some odd Hours and odd Minutes And then again the Women might be mistaken in their reckoning And do we not know not only in the same Country and Field but also on the same Vine grapes sometimes six weeks ripe before their ordinary Season and others not till a month after which happens according to the Territories different influence of the Sun and as the Vine is ordered So do we see Women brought to bed six weeks and 2 months before and sometimes as long after their ordinary term if it be not that the Womb not being capable of an extension beyond a certain degree cannot bear its burden but a little while after the account is out
stretched into the Womb which is here figured and is much more dangerous than the former Mid. 'T is true Sir this posture is much more dangerous than the former but I shall take all the care I can to bring back again this birth into the womb wholly And first of all I shall anoint my hands and the womb of the woman with oyles for this purpose for this requires no small labour then if possible with my other hand shall drive it back so by the shoulders that it may wholly fall back into the womb And again lest the Infant should return to the same form of birth I must put in my hands and bring down the arms of the Infant to the sides and by that means bring it to the form of a natural birth If this course take not I must bring the woman to bed where after she hath lain quiet a while I must proceed after the same manner as I have before delivered and if this also be to no purpose and that it neither be changed to another form she must be brought to the stool and the womb by the help of the women that are assistants must be depressed on both sides and downwards And my hands being annointed as beforesaid together with the Womb and both the arms as they come I must do what I can to joyn them together and so receive it as it comes forth And in this birth there is the less danger if that I or any other Midwife do our duties with all possible diligence and in case the Infant be not too weak Dr. Very well Mrs. your way but I take mine which I mentioned in the former Section to be the safer of the two but you may use which you think best SECT XVIII Figure the Ninth DR But I pray you Mrs. Eutrap How will you deliver a woman of a child that falls down with its buttocks forwards and the hands spread over the head according to this figure Mid. Here Sir I must annoint my hands as above-said and putting it up must lift up the fundament of the child and turn the head to the Birth But in this case I must not make too much haste lest it fall into a worser form neither is it possible that a child should be so born without great loss to the Mother and Infant therefore if it cannot be turned with the hand she must be brought to the bed where if she be very weak she may be refreshed with convenient meats and cordials and then often proceeded with as is said before until the Infant shall come to a more commodious form of birth Dr. Your observations and apprehensions of danger in this operation are very good so that when the next opportunity presents you will find my former directions to be best and safest SECT XIX Figure the Tenth DR But sometimes Mrs. it happens that it offers it self with its shoulders forwards and the head turned backwards but the feet and hands lifted up as in the ensuing figure How will you help here Mid. In this case Sir I must in the first place move backward the shoulders of the Infant that it may first appear with the head forward and this may easily be done because the shoulders being but a little up the head of it self will fall down to the orifice of the womb as being nearest to it But if there must be any other way attempted she must be brought back to the bed and then so stirred and rouled and used according to those directions formerly hinted SECT XX. Figure the Eleventh DR Mrs I fear I trouble you with many Questions be pleased to satisfie me in this and four or five more and I shall forbear What then if the Infant incline to the birth with the hands and feet together as if it stood upon all four with the back upward into the womb as in this figure What I say will you do Mid. Here Sir I must take care lest some danger happen from this difficult and unshapely figure therefore I must do thus I must so move the feet of the Infant that I may handle the head and do what I can to direct that first to the birth I must also move up the arms lest of their own accord they fall down to the sides of the womb And if this way succeed not she must be brought back to the bed and the same means used for the turning of the Infant as hath been formerly described SECT XXI Figure the Twelfth DR Sometimes Mrs. it falls out that contrary to the former shape the Infant falls down upon its breast with the hands and feet cast backward into the Womb as in this figure what will you do in such a condition Mid. Truly this case is the most dangerous of all hitherto proposed First therefore I must carefully annoint both my hands and also the womb of the woman which done I must feel for the arms of the Infant and lay hold of them so till I can lay hold of the head also and with all care hold it so fast that I may direct the head first to the birth next I must dispose of them to the sieds for this done the birth will come forth the sooner and with less danger but if this succeed not it will be safest to bring the woman to the bed and to proceed as formerly shewed that if perhaps by this kind of delay the Infant may accommodate it self to a more fit posture for the birth SECT XXII Of a birth wherein the Infant presents the belly DR In the next place Mrs. Midwife let me hear from you how you will help a woman in labour of a child when it presents its belly first Mid. That you shall Sr. very willingly to the utmost of my skill And here Sr. I must note that the back-bone may easily be bent and turned forwards alittle but by no means backwards without excessive violence Wherefore the worst and most dangerous figure that a child can offer to the birth is the belly or the breast for then its body is constreined to bend backwards and what ever throws or endeavours a woman makes to bring it forth it will never be accomplish'd for she will sooner perish with her child then ever advance it in this posture into the passage wherefore 't is in great danger if not timely succourd and in case it should escape which would be very strange it would be weak in the back along time after its birth but that which augments the danger much more is that for the most part the Navil-string comes forth when the Child comes with the belly Therefore as soon as 't is discover'd to be so the Midwife must use the sole remedy of drawing it forth by the feet as speedily as may be in this following manner Having placed the woman I must gently slide up my flat hand being well anointed for the easier entrance towards the midle of the childs breast which I must thrust back to
and no longer possessing the Womb and so fetch away the Child by the Feet For indeed although it be certain that the Child be quite dead in the Womb and other circumstances that will demonstrate that there is need of a Physitian or Surgeons Art yet he must not therefore presently use his crotchets because they are never to be used but when hands are not sufficient and that there is no other remedy to prevent the Womans danger or to bring away the Child any other way for very often though all hath been done that art directs some persons present that understand not these things will believe that the Child was kill'd with the crotches although it had been dead 3 days before and without other reasonings and better understanding of the matter for his recompence in saving the life of the Mother requite him with an accusation of which he is altogether innocent and in case the Mother should afterwards dye by misfortune lay her death also to his charge and instead of praise and thanks treat him like a Butcher or Hangman to which divers Midwifes are commonly very ready to contribute and are the first that make the poor Women that have need of the Men afraid of them Insomuch that they are afraid of being blamed by them for having themselves been the cause as some of them often are of the death of Infants and many ill accidents which often befall the poor Women for not causing them to be helped in due time and from the very instant that they perceive the difficulty of the labor to pass their understandings I speak this by way of caution on both sides Now therefore for the Physitian or Chirurgion to avoid these calumnies let him never use his crotchets but very rarely when there is no other way as also to endeavor his utmost as much as the case will permit to bring the Child whole into the World although it be dead and not by bits and peice-meals to give the ignorant not any pretence of blame I say as much as the case will permit that is with respect to the Woman under his hands for to save her he had better sometimes to bring forth the Child with Instruments then to kill her by tormenting her with excessive violence to bring it forth whole for in a word he must and ought to do in his conscience what his Art commands without taking heed to what may be spoken afterwards and every Physitian or Chirurgion that hath a well regulated conscience will always have a greater regard to his duty then his reputation in such a case in performing of which let him expect his reward from God SECT XXXII Of the extracting of a mola and false conception DR We have hitherto Mrs. Eutrapelia discoursed of births natural and unnatural there is somewhat more not like these but often with them and without them which Physitians call a Mola but you call it a false Conception I pray Mrs. therefore what is that Mola or false Conception Mid. A Mola Sir is a hard inform tumorfull of pores like so many ugly eyes scarce to be cut by a knife of a stony substance to touch and round appearing sometimes at the entrance of the Womb sometimes over the whole Womb and is thought by very Learned Doctors to be begotten by the woman her self without the help of a man though some affirm it cannot be without the seed of the man and therefore inanimate because not generated by two without the help of a man I say by the force of her own seed mixing it self with much menstruous blood reteined in the Womb which by immoderate heat is changeth into the shape of flesh and that altogether unnatural as is the stone in the bladder and in the fingers of gouty persons c. Dr. Well Mrs since 't is so tell me I pray wherein it differs from a true Conception Mid. It may Sir be like a true Conception in three respects yet differ in six As first 'T is true that a false conception stoppeth the monthly terms as doth the true Secondly The belly also doth swell and the breasts grow big Thirdly There is an alteration both in the color and appetite but yet they differ in these six following ways as First A false conception hath no ordinary nor periodical motion neither doth it stir from side to side except it be pressed Secondly In a false conception the belly is harder and the feet are much more swelled Thirdly The woman is more heavy and unweeldy and not so nimble as with a true conception Fourthly The breasts swell not so much as in a true conception Fifthly The whole body grows soft and consumes away in a false conception Sixthly a false conception may be moved in three months but the Child stirreth not till after three months or usually in the fourth month And again the birth of an Infant never exceeds the eleventh month whereas a false conception may continue for fourteen years or as long as they live Moreover there may be a Tympany caused by air included in the Womb. Or else there may be a Dropsie by reason of the many humors contained in the Womb both which may give a false supposition of being with Child but these also are easily distinguish'd from a false conception A Tympany may be moved from place to place but not the other A Tympany will sound if lightly strucken but not the other and a Dropsie caused by those many humors as aforesaid will shew some marks being depressed with the fingers whereas a Mola is hard and yieldeth not to the pulsation or depression of the fingers And lastly in both these most commonly the Thighs swell but in a false conception or Mola the Thighs wither and are lesser Dr. Thus far have you extreamly ingeniously Mrs. Eutrapelia exprest your self concerning a Mola and now you have done I pray you give me leave to lay you down my sentiments concerning both a Mola and a false conception and the safest and best way to draw them forth of the Womb with safety First of all then Mrs. you must know that there are several sorts of great bellies belonging to Women as hath been said before there are your natural big bellies which contain a living Child and those may be called true ones and others unnatural or against nature in which in lieu of a Child is engendred nothing but strange matters as wind mixed with waters which may be called dropsies of the Womb and false conceptions and Moles or Membranes full of blood and corrupted seed for which reason they are called false great bellies Now you must know that among the signs of a true great belly one is the stirring of the Child in the Womb but here you are to observe that it is very fit we should be always careful not to be deceived by what we feel to stir in the Womb inasmuch as the Infant of it self is endued with 2 sorts of motions in its Mothers
sometimes by its heat it makes an inflammation in the neck of the bladder which causes its stopping and if it be from a stone in the bladder 't is more in supportable and dangerous to a Woman with Child then one that is not because the Womb by its swelling causeth the stone perpetually to press against the bladder and the pains are violenter if it be greater or of an unequal or sharp shape 'T is of great moment to hinder these violent endeavors to make water and to remedy them if possible in all indispositions because by long continuance of forcing downwards to make water the Womb is loosened and bears down and is sometimes forced to discharge its self of its burthen before its time which we must endeavour to hinder having respect to its different causes as when it comes from the weight of the Womb pressing the bladder as for the most part now she may remedy it if with both her hands when she would make water she lift up the bottom of her belly or wear a large swath or keep her bed If it be sharpness of Urine that makes an inflammation i' th neck o th' bladder appease it by a cooling dyet forbearing strong drinks using emulsions made of the 4 cold seeds or whey with syrup of Violets use not purging because its heat augments the inflammation these are proper to cleanse the Urinary passages without either prejuding Mother or Child taken Morning and Evening If all this prevail not let her blood a little i' th Arm and bath the outward entry of the neck of the bladder with a decoction of Mallows Marsh-mallows Pellitory and Violets with a little Linfeed and inject some of the same into the bladder to which you may add Hony of Violets or luke warm Milk abstaining from all diuretics for fear they provoke Abortion And when all fails she must send for a Physitian or Chyrurgeon to make use of his Catheter And also if it arise from the stone in the neck of the bladder they may thrust it back with it but if small draw it forth for a great one cannot be drawn forth before she be delivered being better to leave her so then endanger her life or the Childs SECT VII Of a Cough and difficult breathing THey whose Infants lye low are more troubled with difficulty of Urine then they whose lye higher who are free from that and the like distemper but are more subject to a Cough and difficult breathing If a Cough be violent to vomiting 't is one of the chiefest things which cause Abortion because 't is an essay whereby the Lungs endeavour to cast forth of the Breast that which offends them by a compression of all its Muscles which pressing all the inclosed air inwards wherewith the Lungs are much stretched thrusts also downwards by the same means the midriff and consequently all the parts of the lower belly but particularly the Womb which continuing long and violent often causeth Abortion Sometimes it proceeds from sharp rheums which distil from the brain upon the Artery and Lungs and sometimes from such blood which flows towards the Breast upon stopping the Terms also from too cold air breathing which stirs up the parts to motion but being begun by these causes 't is often augmented by the compression the Womb makes upon the Midriff which cannot have its liberty in those that bear their Children high because by its great extension it bears up almost all the parts of the lower belly towards the Breast and chiefly the Stomach and Liver forcing them against the Midriff You must remedy this by keeping good dyet somewhat cooling if from sharp humors avoiding all Salt and Spice meats Oranges Lemons Vinegar c. but she may use juice of Liquorice Sugar-candy syrup of Violets or Mulberries which she may mix with a Ptysan made with Jujubs Sebestens French Barley and a little Liquorice and it may not be amiss to divert and draw down these humors by a gentle Clyster If these prevail not and there appears signs of fulness of blood bleed her in the Arm at what time soever of going with Child and though it be not usually practis'd when they are young with Child yet here it must for a continual Cough is much more dangerous then a moderate bleeding If it come of cold keep in a close Room with a napkin doubled about her Neck or a Lamb-Skin and going to bed take 3 or 4 spoonfuls of this syrup of burnt wine following which is very Pectoral and causeth good digestion Take half a pint of French wine 2 drams of Cinnamon bruised half a dozen cloves 4 ounces of white Sugar or Sugar-candy put them together in a Porrenger and boil them upon a Chaffing dish of Coals burn it and then boil it to the consistence of a Syrup You must not from whatever cause it proceeds that she must go loose in her cloaths and because sleep is proper to stay fluxions it may be procured by the Physitian using no strong stupefactives of opium which are dangerous if there be not very great necessity as in the patient mentioned in the Section of the pain of Back Loins Reins and Hips Some Women carry their first Child chiefly so high because the cords which support the Womb are not stretch'd that they think them to be in their Breasts which causes a difficult breathing as soon as they have eaten a little walked or gone up the stairs so that they fear they shall be choaked which comes from the Wombs being enlarged and pressing the Stomach and the Liver which forces the Midriff upward leaving it no room to be moved sometimes their Lungs are so full of blood driven thither from all parts that it hardly leaves passage for the air if so they will breath more easily as soon as a little blood is taken from the Arm but if it comes from a compression made by the womb against the Midriff the best remedy is to wear her clothes loose and eat little and often eating no windy meats as pease and avoiding all grief and fear because they drive the blood to the Heart and Lungs in too great quantity so that she having her Breast already stuffed and hardly breathing will be in danger of being choak'd for the abundance of blood filling the Ventricles of the Heart above measure and at once hinders its motion without which she cannot live SECT VIII Of the swelling and pains of the Thighs and Legs MAny think which is in part true that the Woman having more blood then the Infant needs to nourish it nature by virtue of the expulsive faculty of the upper parts which are always strongest drives the superfluity upon the lower as the Legs c. as most feeble and apt to receive it and so are caused their swelling and pain and sometimes red spots from the swelling of the Veins along the inside which extreamly hinders her going but the doctrine of the circulation of the blood invented by our
when 't is thick apply it indifferently warm taking away the closures and clods of blood renew this if need be after 5 or 6 hours then make a decoction of Barley Linseed and Chervil or Marsh-Mallows and Violet leaves adding an ounce of honey of Roses to a pint and foment the bearing place Lukewarm 3 or 4 times a day for the first 5 or 6 days some use only milk and others Barley water After 10 or 12 days fortifie the parts with a decoction of Province Roses Plantan leaves and roots and Smith's water The 2d day use loose swaths with a large square bolster over the Belly till the 8th day taking it off i' th mean time often to anoint her Belly if it be sore with Oil of sweet Almonds and St. John's wort mixt then begin to swaith her streighter If she will not be a Nurse apply remedies to the Breasts to drive back the Milk if she will Nurse them keep her warm with soft clothes and if you fear too much blood carrying to them anoint them with Oil of Roses and a little Vinegar beat together and lay on fine Linnen dipt in 't let her not suck the Child the same day she 's deliver'd but stay 6 or 7 days In driving back the Milk some remedies hinder flowing of humors to the Breasts others scatter and in part dissolve the Milk therein Of the first sort are the last ointment or unguentum populeon and unguentum album equally mixt spread upon Linnen and applied Of the 2d is a Pultis made of Linseed Fenugreek Beans and Vetches powder'd boiled with the decoction of Chervil or Sage with Honey and Saffron some apply Honey only others rub the Breasts with Honey and lay on a red Cabbage leaf a little dryed the stalks taken away having great care she take not cold and above all procure ample voiding of the clensings by keeping the belly open by Clysters provoking them then the Milk will soon vanish SECT II. Of Fludding after Child-birth OF that preceding Labor before this blood now flows more abundantly by how much 't is hotter or mov'd by a long and hard Labor and the Woman 's full of blood and besides what 's said note sometimes this blood continuing to flow and remaining i' th bottom o th' Womb becomes clotted which causeth a new Flud and continues by Fits and i' th intervals there comes away some wheyishness of the imprison'd blood which dissolves and makes some ignorant People think the Flux is stop'd tho it continue flowing within wherein it stops only by the clotted blood when which comes away it begins a fresh This is a more dangerous accident then any can happen to one newly lay'd which dispatches her so soon if in great quantity that there 's often scarce time to remedy it so that you are immediately to apply remedies both to stop and turn back from the places whence it flows to which end if it be a false Conception piece of the burthen or clotted blood use all diligence to fetch them away or cause them to be speedily expell'd but if it flows and nothing remain bleed her i' th Arm not so much to empty the fulness as to turn the course lay her body equally flat not raised and keep quiet without turning from side to side nor must the upper part of her Belly be swath'd or bolstered keep her Chamber a little cool and not too warm in Bed All forbid Clysters lest they say humors be cal'd down but the contrary hath been experimentally found that great fluddings have been stopt by pretty strong clensing ones But if for all this the Flud continues then to the last Remedy which is to lay her upon fresh Straw with a single cloth upon it and no Quilt applying cloths wet in Vinegar and water along her Loins and if in the Winter a little warm give every half hour a little strong broth with a few spoonfuls of Gelly and between whiles the yelk of a new laid Egg give her not too much food at a time drinking red Wine with a little water wherein Iron hath been quenched If all this prevail not she will be in danger of her life SECT III. Of the bearing down and falling out of the Womb and Fundament of a Woman newly layd ANd here I shall make 2 sorts of Bearing down and 2 sorts of falling forth which differ but in degree for the first is when the Womb only bears down and comes not forth the 2d when it comes out of the Body The first sort of bearing down is when the full body of the Womb falls into the Neck in such manner as putting up a Finger you may feel the Orifice very near the 2d when the Womb being yet lower one can clearly perceive this Orifice quite without The falling out is twofold too in one the Womb comes quite forth but is not turn'd inside out nor can its inside be seen only its orifice which appears at the end of a great fleshy Mass which makes the body of the Womb and this is cal'd a falling forth of the Womb the other is cal'd a perversion or turning inside out most dangerous for you may perceive all even and without any Orifice and thus it seems to be only a great piece of bloody flesh almost like a Mans Cod which hangs between her Thighs and that which is wonderful in this case is the Womb the infants house goes forth at the Gate which is the inner Orifice A loosening or breaking of the Cords causes the bearing down which comes from hard Labor who have many whites are subject to it and heavy Children Coughing Sneezings a fall going in a Coach or Horseback great lifts burdens lifting the Arms too high and putting them over their head looseness great pains and needings all which shake and thrust the Womb downwards when with Child and the cords being loosened or broken cannot keep it up so that a bearing down doth easily follow the Birth of a Child but the most ordinary cause is violent travel when a Child cometh wrong and cannot be born so or hath too big an head or the inner Orifice not enough opened for the Womb is violently forced down and yet the Child can't advance into the passage because the cords are so rent or loosen'd or when the Secondine sticking close to the bottom is pul'd away on a sudden or too violently and much sooner if putting up the hand as when the String 's broke one pulls the body of the Womb instead of the After-birth but your directions will prevent this She feels a great weight at the bottom of her Belly extream pain i' th Reins and Loins and a bloodish moisture passes through this Mass of Flesh hanging between her Legs A loosening may happen to all Women a falling out but seldom a perfect perversion never but upon or immediately after a delivery because the inner Orifice is then almost as wide as its bottom but not at other times when
Milk let her not be Melancholy but merry and chearful smiling often to divert it She must be sober not given to Wine or other strong Liquors and yet less to the excess of Venus but she may moderately use the first and not wholly abstain from the 2d if her nature require it so it be with her Husband which liberty is freely given then by the great Physitian Jubertus in the 7th chap. of the 5th book of his Popular Errors being founded upon the Experience of alâ— poor Women who bring up their Children very well notwithstanding they lye every Night with their Husbands and from his own alleging that his Wife had Nursed his Children all very well although he lay with her every Night and carressed her as he said like a good and faithful Husband but she must forbear at least an hour or two after to give the Child suck In fine if a Nurse hath all or most of thesâ— Conditions as well respecting her Person aâ— manners and that she maintains this condition by a dyet sit for the Childs temper anâ— not contrary to her own there is then greaâ— reason to believe she is very sit to make a very good Nurse of and to bring up the Soâ— of a Prince in perfect health And now good Mrs. Midwife proceed to shew your skill concerning the diseases of little Children SECT II. Of the Diseases and Symptoms which happen to Children and first of their Diseases in general Mid. SIr withal my heart I shall gladly unfold to you the very depth of my skill and knowledge in this affair and would humbly entreat you that you would be pleased to correct me if I shall at any time offer to utter any thing that may not be according to the rules of art and the practice of learned Physitians for truly Sir we Midwifes must needs acknowledge our selves to have received most of our skill and knowledge from the writings conferences and directions of learned Physitians Now then Sir I have read that Hippocrates divides Childrens diseases according to their ages When he like an Oracle lays down that in new-born Children there are Vlcers in the Mouth Vomitings Coughs Watchings Fears Inflammation of the Navil moistness of the Ears at breeding of their Teeth their Gums itch and they fall into Feavers and Convulsions and a loosness of the belly when they breed their Eye Teeth When they grow older their Tonsils are inflam'd the joints of the Neck are sprained inwardly their breath 's short they have the stone and round Worms Warts standing Yards Strangury Kings-Evil and other swellings then besides these here mentioned by the divine Hippocrates they have other Diseases at other times as that they are generally infected with the Small-Pox and Meazels none or few escaping Tongue tyed Chafing c. concerning which I shall now in particular give you my method of cure beginning first with Feavers Small-Pox and Meazels as the most general SECT III. Of Feavers Meazels and Small-Pox in little Children CHildren are subject to all sorts of Feavers but chiefly that of corrupt Milk which is commonly from Choler 1st therefore give cooling and moistening things to the Nurse as Lettice Endive Succory c. and Emulsions of Barley-water with the four cold seeds Barley cream then purge her gently with Manna Cassia Fistularis Lenitive Electuary c. then give altering remedies to the Infant as Syrup of Violets Lemons Citrons c. dissolv'd in Endive or Cichory or Borage or Bugloss water 4 ounces of water to one of Syrup to which you may add a little white Rose water to make it the more pallatable If the Feaver proceed from breeding Teeth abate the pain of which hereafter and give alterers as abovesaid In the Small-Pox and Meazels you have nothing to do but to observe Natures motions in the driving them forth and to assist her if you see her any ways weak or obstructed by giving the Child a little Claret with Syrup of Clove Gilly-flowers and a little Treacle water but be sure have a care that you encrease not the Feaver Cochenele and Bezoar and Saffron are excellent likewise SECT IV. Of the milky scab Achores Scald-Head and Lice THe milky Scab is at first sucking the Achores after the Achores are not white but the other are and possess the whole body the Achores only Head and Face but are cur'd a like They are commonly thought to be healthful when they run because they prevent Convulsions c. and they often cure of themselves in time but if the matter be very sharp they peirce the Skull Dry these up not rashly so they disfigure not the Face or endanger the Eyes but first try to drive them forth with such things as you were told in the Small Pox let the Nurse forbear sharp salt things prepare her Body with Borrage Succory Endive Bugloss Fumetory Polypody and Dock roots and then purge her with Sena Polypody Epithymum c. If you fear it will turn to a scald Head foment it with a decoction of Mallows Barley Celandine Wormwood Marsh-mallows boild in Boys urine and Barley water and then anoint with Oil of Roses and Lytharge of Gold and if the Scull come to be bare dress it with Honey of Roses and Brandy and after with Powder of round birth-wort and Balsome of Peru Turpentine and Tobacco water If you have occasion to use stronger Medicines for a scald Head take sulphur 2 drams Mustard seed half a dram Stavesacre bryony roots each 1 dram Vinegar 1 ounce Turpentine half an ounce with as much Bears Grease as will make it into an Oyntment or beat water-Cresses with Hogs Grease When the Scab is fallen off pull the hair out by the roots with instruments or Medicines commonly they use a pitch'd cap and pull it violently to bring away the Hair or take Starch or Wheat-flower 2 ounces Rosin half an ounce boil them in water to the consistence of a pultis lay it upon the several Scalds let it stick some days then pluck it off violently For Lice to prevent them let them not eat food of ill juice as Figs c. let her Head be often comb'd and wash'd and purge the Nurse or Child then give things to draw the humor out as you have been taught and then consume the superfluous moisture as with this take Elacampana 2 ounces Briony roots half an ounce Beets herb Mercury Soap-wort each an handful Nitre half an ounce Lupines 2 drams boil them for a Lotion then anoint them with this following take powder of Stavesacre 3 drams Lupines half an ounce Agaric 2 drams quick Sulphur a dram and half Oxe gaul half an ounce with oil of Wormwood as much as will suffice to make it into an Ointment SECT V. Of the watry swelling of the Head WE speake here of the water without the Scul for which take 30 snails with their shels Marjoram Mugwort each an handful with oil of Chamomil make a pultis and snuff up this water often
continually refuses the Breast tosses too and fro if from wind it breaks wind and is gone if from humors 't is constant from tough Flegm the Belly 's bound and dung slimy from sharp humors there 's sign of them if the pain last long Convulsions or Falling-sickness follow If from crude humors and wind give first a Clyster of Chicken Mutton or Veal broth 3 or 4 ounces adding Honey of Roses one ounce with the yelk of an Egg or give it some Oil of sweet Almonds with Sugar-candy and a few Anniseeds powdered a scuple or so which purges new born Babes from green choler and stinking Flegm if given with Sugar pap it allays the pains of the Belly Anoint the Belly with Oil of Dil and foment it with a decoction of Camomil flowers Dil tops and Bays twice a day If pain be from corrupt sharp Milk give Honey of Roses or syrup of Succory with Rubarb or a Clyster of the decoction of bran with Honey or syrup of Roses and anoint as before The puffing comes from too much sucking and not concocting which is cured by a thinner dyet that crudities may be concocted and purging with Honey of Roses SECT XIV Of the Flux of the Belly IF from breeding of Teeth see the signs if from outward cold there are signs of no other causes if from crude humors there 's wind belching and flegmatick excrements but if they be yellow green c. 't is from a hot and sharp humor If it last long stop it if black excrements be voided with a Feaver 't is bad The Child needs not cure so much as the Nurse mend the Milk or change the Nurse and let her not eat green fruit and things of hard concoction If it suck not take away the causes with Honey of Roses then if the cause be hot give syrup of Quinces dry'd Roses Myrtles with a little fine Bole-Armonack Sanguis Draconis or terra sigillata If the cause be cold and excrements white give syrup of Mastick and Mints SECT XV. Of Costiveness IT is from a cold and dry distemper in some from the Birth or from slimy Flegm that wraps the dung which sticks in the Guts this is from bad Milk when the Nurse eats gross food slimy and binding or drinks little or from an hot distemper of the Liver or Kidneys that dryes the excrements or if Choler stirs not up the expulsive faculty then the dung is white and the body yellow Children are more healthful with a loose Belly 't is cured by observing contraries as all other Diseases are from slimy Flegm give Honey of Roses correct the distemper of the Liver c. with syrup of Violets and cooling Emulsions as before In want of Choler the decoction of Grass roots Fennel Sparagus Maiden-hair In all which you may give sometimes Clysters and Suppositories SECT XVI Of Worms THey are known by a stinking Breath troublesome sleep gnashing of Teeth bawling dry Cough Vomiting Hiccups great thirst swell'd Belly or bound or too loose when the Belly is empty and they want food there 's a cold sweat over the Face and an high color with sudden paleness sometimes a Feaver and Convulsion which ceaseth presently First 'T is best to prevent them by eating meats of good juice with Oranges and Lemons c. and avoiding sweet clammy meats Flesh and Fruits If there be Worms kill them with powder of Corraline Wormseed Harts horn or infuse 8 or 10 grains of Mercurius dulcis all Night in Grass Borage or Bugloss water pouring them from the Mercury and give the Child the water The waters with the juices are very good Some apply a Plaister of Aloes to the Navil There is no better thing under the Sun then to infuse a dram or 2 of Sena in water and put some of the juices to it when 't is strain'd Use varieties that the Worms may not be to familiar with one SECT XVII Of the Rupture IF this be from a Gut keep the Belly open keep the Child from crying avoiding motion lay it upon its back thrust it up gently then apply an Emplaster of ad Herniam or Casaris If from water anoint with oil of Elder Bays Rue c. or apply a pultis of powder of Beans Linseed Fenugreek Camomil flowers with these Oils SECT XVIII Of Bunching out and Inflammation of the Navil IF the Midwife left too much of it that it bunches out it is more troublesome then dangerous if the rim of the Belly be loose it starts not much out and is not bigger by crying and wind stretches it out then use a pultis of Cummin Bay-berries Lupines powdered with red Wine then use an Astringent Plaister as in Ruptures and roul it If the rim be broken first put in the Gut then bind it close after you have apply'd an astringent Plaister and given Medicines as against Ruptures The Inflammation is from pain when 't is not well tyed which draws blood to it There 's redness hardness heat and beating if it turn to an Impostume and breaks the Guts come forth and the Child usually dyes if not presently hope by a skilful Chyrurgeon First abate the Inflammation with Vnguentum album and Populeon c. and repel the blood with a dram of Frankincense Acacia and Fleabean seed of each half a dram made into a pultis with some white of an Egg. SECT XIX Of the falling out of the Fundament WHen the Muscle that shuts it is loose then it comes forth if it come from moisture 't is hard to be cur'd especially if there be a looseness for then Medicines cannot lye on If with streining if it be swel'd foment it with a decoction of Mallow and Marsh-mallows or anoint with oil of Lillies then keep it in with astringents as take red Roses Pomegranate pills and flowers Cypress Nuts each half an ounce Sumach Frankincense Mastick each 2 drams boil'd in red Wine foment it with spunge then sprinkle on this powder red Roses and Pomegranates flowers each half a dram Frankincense Mastick each a dram laid upon a clout and kept to the Fundament SECT XX. Of difficulty and stopping of Urine 'T Is caused from thick humors and the Stone that stops the Bladder it s voided by drops and is thick then let a Surgeon try with a Catheter if there be a Stone and if it be not presently cured it turns to one and all natural evacuation in Children being stopt is dangerous Evacuate the humors with Honey of Roses Cassia white Wine and water or take the blood of an Hare dry'd to powder 1 ounce Saxifrage roots powdered 6 drams give from a scruple to half a dram in white Wine or Saxifrage water SECT XXI Of not holding Urine THis comes from a cold and moist distemper which weakens the Muscle that should close the orifice of the Bladder and when much water pricks it it suffers it to come forth sometimes a stone hurts it that it cannot do its duty First then alter the distemper dry and consume the Flegm let the Nurse have a Dyet with Sage Hysop Marjoram c. â—et not the Child drink much SECT XXII Of Leanness and Betwitching IF from little or bad Milk remedy it or from Worms or Worms in the Skin which is known by putting the Child into a Bath and rubbing it with Honey and Bread and then you will see they will put forth their heads like Ash coloured and black hairs in the Back Arms or Legs and all Musculous parts and stick in the Skin and they breed of slimy Matter shut up in the Capillar veins which turns to Worms from transpiration hindred If you find no other outward or inward cause you may suspect a venomous vapour or Witch-craft If for want of Milk change your Nurse or if she have any disease or be contrary to the constitution of the Child If from worms in the Skin when you see their heads appear by rubbing and as before kill them with a Rasor or Crust of Bread If from an occult quality or Witchcraft 't is hard to be cured because we know not the nature of the malignity There are many superstitious things carried about against Witchcraft some having Amber and Coral about the Childs neck If it be from a dry distemper of the whole body there is no better remedy then bathing often in a decoction of Mallows Marsh-Mallows Brankustine Sheeps-head c. anointing after with Oil of sweet Almonds and if it be hot and dry add Lettice Endive Violets Poppy-heads and Onions and after with Oil of Roses and Violets FINIS P. 265 P. 247 P. 95 P. 95 P. 99 P. 46