Читать книгу The Female Physician - John Maubray - Страница 31

CHAP. III. Of the DIET and REGIMEN of the Pregnant Woman.

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I Come now, agreeable to my Promise, in the First Chapter of this Section, to direct and prescribe to the Woman conceiv’d her due Course: Whom I would have to consider, First, that she is in a very narrow and dangerous Sea; and, Secondly, that, as the Pilot cannot be always upon the Watch; so the Safety of Ship and Cargo depends entirely upon the Care, Conduct, and Steady Hand of the skilful Steersman.

WHEREFORE the Woman being now satisfy’d of her CONCEPTION, she is to observe a quite different Oeconomy in her Way of Living, from what she formerly practis’d: Since a double Mischief may be the Result of one single Fault in this Case; the INFANT always participating of what affects the MOTHER. And therefore she is now not only to take Care of Herself, but also of her Embryo, or the Fruit of her Womb; especially in the First Months, when it may be justly compared to the tender Blossoms of Trees, which are easily blasted, or shaken-off by the least Accident of Wind or Rain.

THIS Regimen, which I am about to speak of, is Two-fold; the One for such Women as find themselves in a good State of Health, by way of Prevention: The Other for those of the tenderer Sort of Constitutions, who begin to suffer immediately under the common Symptoms: Upon which Affair I shall give a few necessary Precautions adapted to Both, with all possible Discretion and Judgment.

I. THE Conceiv’d Woman then is to observe a good, wholesome, and regular DIET; since Errors committed that way, with respect either to Quantity or Quality, may be of double Damage; I mean, both to the Mother and the Infant. She should therefore eat rather Often, than Much at a Meal; especially at Nights, without fasting too long at any Time.

II. SHE is discreetly to avoid all unwholesome, or intemperate Air, and not expose herself to any Excess of Heat or Cold.

III. SHE must not desire rashly to walk much abroad in Moon-Shine, nor to wash her Head in Sun-Shine.

IV. SHE ought not to frequent Gardens; and that for the following Two-fold Reason: First, lest perchance she happen to sit or tread upon some Herb of a pernicious Quality; as divers are, in provoking Abortion: Secondly, lest she covet some Fruit or Herbs, which may be of Damage or Inconveniency if allow’d, and the same if deny’d Her.

V. SHE is prudently to avoid all Odoriferous or Perfum’d, as well as Stinking Nauseous Smells.

VI. SHE must carefully shun sitting or lying hard, and also lifting any heavy Weight, or her Arms above her Head.

VII. SHE ought purposely to forbear all hard Labour, and violent Emotions of Body.

VIII. SHE is prudently to avoid all Apprehensions of Fears and Frights, and not to be surpriz’d at any thing she hears or sees.

IX. SHE is cautiously to decline Watchings, and sitting up late at Nights; but must indulge moderate Sleep.

X. SHE must not lace herself (as before) with Whalebone-Stays, nor use Busks; which may not only spoil her Breasts and Belly, but also mis-shape the Infant, if Abortion does not immediately follow.

XI. SHE ought discreetly to suppress all Anger, Passion, and other Perturbations of Mind, and avoid entertaining too serious or melancholick Thoughts; since all such tend to impress a Depravity of Nature upon the Infant’s Mind, and Deformity on its Body.

XII. SHE is not to be too Busy, or Attentive, fixing her Eyes too much upon any one Object; especially on deformed ugly Persons, or any such accidental disagreeable Sight.

XIII. AS to her Appetite, she ought to set the Delphick Oracle before her (Nil nimium cupito) and desire nothing but what she can have to her Satisfaction.

XIV. SHE must carefully avoid all strong purging Medicines,^[56] especially before the fourth, and after the sixth Month: And even Then also, unless a Necessity of turgid Matter, or unfix’d Humours, oblige her to it, or require Evacuation. She is also likewise to abstain from all Phlebotomy^[57], especially in the latter Months.

XV. AS to her Exercise, of what kind soever, the following general Rule may suffice; viz. the first Month she ought not to exercise herself at all: The second, but seldom and slowly: The third, oftner and briskly: The fourth, fifth, and sixth, moderately and boldly: The seventh, eighth, and to the middle of the ninth, she should study by degrees to reduce Herself discreetly, and abstain from all her wonted Exercise, and act very circumspectly in all Regards; especially^[58] the eighth Month, which is the most dangerous and troublesome of all the Time of Pregnancy.

XVI. LASTLY, Let her State of Health be never so good, she ought to take proper Medicines to strengthen the Womb, as well as the Fœtus, in order to prevent Accidents, which may happen to the strongest Woman.

BUT as to Women of more tender Constitutions, they are not only subject to the common Symptoms, but often liable also to acute Diseases; such as Fevers, Pleurisies, Squincies, Inflammations, Epilepsies, Apoplexies, Convulsions, Contractions of the Limbs, Joints, &c. In which Cases, I may reasonably recommend the Patient to the ablest Physician; since none but the most Judicious ought to undertake them in such critical Conjunctures. Because it is no ways Safe to use the same Means and Medicines with the Pregnant Woman (which those incident Diseases would otherways regularly require;) without a due Distinction and a nice Regard had to her other Habits of Body.

THESE tender Women are also sometimes seiz’d with Chronical Distempers; such as intermitting Fevers, lingring Coughs, &c: But, in those Cases, Prescriptions are not so Proper or Convenient, unless the Distemper be very severe and extremely prejudicial to the Foetus, because they commonly wear off before the Delivery.

HOWEVER, be the Constitution, or Condition, of the Woman as it will, I mean, Strong or Weak, Healthy or Sickly, all prudent Parents, who desire to be bless’d with comely, tractable, and hopeful Children, ought not only to perform their Nuptial Duties with great Serenity of Mind, but also to take mutual Care to prevent and suppress all Family-Tumults or Domestick Storms: For there never ought so much as a Cloud to appear in their Conjugal Society; since all such unhappy Accidents strongly affect the growing Infant, and intail the same Qualities of Disposition almost indelibly imprinted upon it.