Obstetrics for nurses / by Joseph B. De Lee.

  • De Lee, Joseph B. (Joseph Bolivar), 1869-1942.
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Obstetrics for nurses / by Joseph B. De Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    placenta praevia 15 per cent., of rupture of the uterus 60 per cent., and yet inexperienced practitioners will under- take the care of these cases unconcernedly, while if the patient had appendicitis, the best surgeon obtainable would be called, although the mortality from appen- dicitis is seldom more than 10 per cent., and in some hands, 3 per cent. The child-bearing woman is neglected, both in regard to her medical attendance and her nursing, and it is largely her own fault. She does not demand the high- est obstetric skill in her accoucheur, nor does she always pick out the best obstetric nurse obtainable. While for a surgical or gynecologic operation or for a medical con- sultation all considerations are brushed aside and the best man selected, for a confinement some old friend of the family, or a married man, or one who does not make so many preparations, or one who does not charge so much, is selected, the patient entirely forgetting that conditions may arise that will suddenly throw her into unprepared, unskilful hands, where to save her infant's or her own life the most rapid, dextrous operating may be necessary. For her nurse, some monthly nurse or a woman that has nursed many cases is often chosen, and in the emergency which so often arises the unwise mother or the innocent babe is the sufferer. Lack of space prevents going further into this vitally important subject, but these propositions may be easily defended by reference to the State mortality records and case-books of the gynecologists. 1. Except in women of perfect health, labor is not a physiologic process, and is always beset with dangers of no little gravity to both mother and infant.