De practyk der vroed'meesters en vroed'vrouwen, Of de wyse van een vrouw' te helpen in haar kindbaren. Be...

keep up, and one sees that in a very short time the membranes, which due to the pressure of the water were no larger than a hazelnut, become as large as an egg, and sometimes in some women to the size of a child's head, and very often cover the entire passage and the outer mouth.

Finally, these membranes open: the water runs off, and the child comes, through the pressing of the mother and itself, with the head first, and the rest subsequently into the world. This is what we call natural birth. It happens sometimes that when the child's head is born, the shoulders are so broad that it remains stuck in the way and cannot progress. In this case, the man-midwife or the midwife must, with great prudence and judgment, aided by the spasms of the mother, use both their hands, placing them flat on the side of the head, under the ears, and then pull the same straight toward them with dexterity and judgment, assuming that the child would not be able to come into the world by itself. If the man-midwife or midwife fears that they might injure the child by holding it in this way, they could place their hands on the neck of the child,

and without loss of time or delay, pull it toward them until it is outside.

I say without delay, because I have seen women whose womb, after the child's head was born, closed again in such a way, and pulled the mouth and vagina shut with such force, that if I had not acted quickly, the child would have been strangled and suffocated in the passage.

To prevent these incidents, one must let the fingers slide between the lips of the mouth of the womb and the neck of the child, separating and widening these lips with the fingers to assist the exit of the child's body.

I present this observation because, through the carelessness of some young midwives while I was living in the hospital original: "Godshuys" (charitable house of God) of this city of Paris, I have seen some children die in such a way.

I have also seen others perish under the hands of experienced midwives, but those were cases where, because they were too old, they did not have enough strength to pull them out quickly. For one must not dally in these occurrences, as we have already said; otherwise, the child dies and is strangled in the passage, with the head already born and outside the vagina.