Twilight Sleep in America; The Truth About Painless Childbirth

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1915. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER 8. The Lying-in Room And Nubseby. If the pregnant woman decides to have her baby at home the selection of a room for the delivery is very important. This is doubly true if the method is to be the painless one of Twilight Sleep. The room should be so situated that all unnecessary noises will be excluded. Noise is no aid to the Twilight Sleep state. It should be fairly large. The ventilation should be good. All heavy curtains and draperies should be removed. The bed should be narrow and high. An ordinary cot bed raised by placing blocks under the legs suffices. Over the mattress a rubber sheeting is placed. Over this is placed a sheet. Another length of rubber sheeting is arranged over the sheet and on top of this is placed another sheet. This is called the draw sheet. Some place still another rubber sheet over this covered with prepared padding. In many cases a Kelly pad does away with this last covering. In this way after the birth of the baby the soiled bed clothes may be removed leaving a clean bed underneath. Two or three plain, straight-back chairs should be ready. The floor, if covered with a carpet should be covered with a material that will insure the carpet not being soiled and ruined. If the floor is covered with rugs these should be removed and the floor protected. In normal cases the baby is born with the mother in bed. Should a complication arise and forceps used, a version, etc. have to be done, the bed is a poor place for such an operation to take place. Provision should be made for this emergency. Some physicians have a portable operating table they send to the patient's home. An ordinary kitchen table does as well, though, and is the most used. This table should be about three to five feet long and two feet wide. It is covered with...