The principles of midwifery; including the diseases of women and children / [John Burns].

  • Burns, John, 1774-1850.
Date:
1817
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of midwifery; including the diseases of women and children / [John Burns]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    32/676 (page 10)
    labour. Some have been inclined to consider this as a uni- form operation of nature, intended to facilitate the birth of the child. Others, who cannot go this length, have never- theless conjectured, that the ligaments do become some~ what slacker; and have grounded this opinion on the suppos- ed fact of the pelvis of quadrupeds undergoing this relaxation. But the truth is, that this separation is not an advantage, but a serious evil; and in cases of deformed pelvis, where we would naturally look for its operation, did it really exist, we do not observe it to take place. When a person stands, pressure is made upon the symphy- sis, and therefore, if it be tender, pain will then be felt. In walking, pressure is made on the two acetabula alternate- ly, and the ossa innominata are acted on by the strong muscles which pass from them to the thighs, so that there is a tendency to make the one os pubis rise above the other ; but this, in a sound state of the parts, is sufficiently re- sisted by the ligaments. In a diseased state, however, or in a case of separation of the bones, there is not the same obsta- cle to this motion: and hence, walking must give great pains or be altogether impossible: even attempts to raise the one thigh above the other, in bed, must give more or less pain, according to the sensibility or laxity of the symphysis. Stand~- ing has also an effect on the symphysis, as I have mentioned; but sometimes the person can, by fixing one os innominatum, with all the muscles connected with it, and throwing the chief weight of the body to that side, stand for a short time, easier on one leg than on both. ‘This is the case when one os innomi- natum has been more acted on than the other, at the sacro- iliac junction. ‘The person can stand easiest on the soundest side. ‘The patient also, especially if the relaxation be accompa- nied with any degree of relaxation of uterine attachments, in- stinctively crosses her legs when standing, thereby obtaining relief. From these observations, we may learn the mischievous consequences of a separation of the bones, and also the cir- cumstances which will lead us to suspect that it has happened. If the bones be fully disjoined, then, by placing the finger on