During the latter days of expectancy an abdominal supporter may be worn advantageously. Much of the backache and heaviness in the pelvis is entirely relieved by the supporting of the pendulous abdomen with a well-fitted binder. An ordinary piece of linen crash may be fitted properly by the taking in of darts at the lower front edge; or elastic linen, or silk binder may be secured; in fact, any binder that properly supports the abdomen will answer the purpose.
It should be within the means of every pregnant woman to have a neat, artistic out-door costume, for social, club and church occasions (Fig.
2). For no reason but illness should an expectant mother shut herself up in doors.
True men and true women hold the very highest esteem for the maternal state, and the opinion of all others matters not; so joyfully go forth to the club, social event, concert, or church; and to do this, you must have a well-designed, artistic dress. The material does not matter much, but the shade and style are important.
DIET
There are certain laws which govern the diet at all times; for instance, the man who digs ditches requires more of a certain element of food and more food in general, than does the man who digs thoughts out of his brain. The growing child requires somewhat different elements of food than does an adult. In other words, "The diet should suit the times, occasions, occupations, etc."
In the case of the expectant mother it should be remembered that the child gains nine-tenths of its weight after the fifth month of pregnancy, and it is, therefore, not necessary that a woman shall begin "eating for two" until after the fifth month. And since it is also true that the baby doubles its weight during the last eight weeks of pregnancy, it follows that then is the time when special attention must be given to the quant.i.ty as well as the quality of "mothers"
food."
During the first five months, if the urine and blood-pressure are normal, the "lady in waiting" should follow her usual dietetic tastes and fancies so long as they do not distress or cause indigestion.
Because of the additional work of the elimination of the fetal wastes, much water, seven or eight gla.s.ses a day, should be taken; while one of the meals--should there be three--may well consist largely of fruit. All of the vegetables may be enjoyed; salads with simple dressings and fruits may be eaten liberally. Of the breads, bran, whole wheat, or graham are far better for the bowels than the finer grain breads, or the hot breads.
Something fresh--raw--should be taken every day, such as lettuce, radishes, cabbage salad, and fresh fruits.
If the prospective mother is accustomed to the liberal use of meat, providing the blood-pressure and urine are normal, she may be able to indulge in meat once a day. Many physicians believe that the maternal woman should eat meat rather sparingly--from once a day to once or twice or three times a week.
Of the desserts, gelatine, junket, ice cream, sponge cake, and fruit are far better than the rich pastries, which never fail even in health to encourage indigestion and heart burn. The fruitades are all good.
Candies and other sweets may be eaten in moderation. Alcohol should be avoided. Tea and coffee should be restricted, and in many cases abandoned. For many, two meals and a lunch of fruit or broth are better than three full meals. There is a continual and increased acc.u.mulation of waste matter which must be thrown off by the lungs, kidneys bowels, and skin; so that clogging of one channel of elimination makes more work for one or more of the other eliminative organs.
Sometimes the craving for food is excessive, and the desire to nibble between meals is quite troublesome. These unusual feelings should be controlled or ignored. A gla.s.s of orangeade will sometimes satisfy this unnatural craving. Save your appet.i.te for meal time--for a good appet.i.te means good digestion--all things equal. The woman who habitually eats between meals is the sluggish, constipated individual who needs to acquire self-control and learn self-mastery.
WATER DRINKING
Water is the circulating medium of the body, from which the digestive secretions are formed, and by which the food is a.s.similated and distributed to individual cells. And, finally, water is the agent for dissolving and removing waste products from the body through the various eliminating organs. We literally live, think, and have our being, as it were, under water. The tiny cell creatures of our bodies, from the humble bile workers of the liver to the exalted thinking cells of the brain, all carry on their work submerged. Accordingly, the amount of water we drink each day, determines whether the liquids circulating through our tissues shall be pure, fresh, and life-giving, or stagnant, stale, and death-dealing.
Thirst is the expression of the nervous system, const.i.tuting a call for water, the same as hunger represents a call for food. Pure water, free from all foreign substances, is the best liquid with which to quench this thirst.
It is just as important to supply abundance of water for the proper bathing and cleansing of the internal parts of the body, as it is to wash and bathe the external skin frequently. The living tissues are just as literally soiled and dirtied by their life action and their poisonous excretions, as is the skin soiled by its excretions of sweat and poisonous solids. Thus the regular drinking of water is absolutely necessary to enable the body to enjoy its internal bath, and this internal cleansing is just as grateful and refreshing to the cells and tissues, as is the external bath to the nerves which exist in the skin.
The total amount of water necessary varies according to the nature of one"s work, the amount of sweating from the skin, the moisture of the atmosphere, the amount of water in the food, etc. We believe the average person requires about eight gla.s.ses of liquid a day; that is, about two quarts. By the word "gla.s.s" we refer to the ordinary gla.s.s or goblet, two of which equal one pint. This amount of water should be increased, if anything, throughout pregnancy; while, during the later months, the amount of water taken each day should be at least doubled.
In the condemnation of so-called artificial beverages, an exception should be made of the fruit juices. The fresh, unfermented juices of various fruits come very near being pure, distilled water, as they consist of only a little fruit sugar and acid, together with small amounts of flavoring and coloring substances, dissolved in pure water.
None of these substances contained in pure fruit juice needs to be digested.
Lemonade not too sweet, and taken in moderate quant.i.ties, is certainly a beverage free from objection when used by the average pregnant woman. Unripe or overripe fruits frequently cause bowel disturbances; as also do the millions of germs which lurk upon the outside of fruits, and which find their way into the stomach and bowels when these fruits are eaten raw without washing or paring. Otherwise, the juices of fruits and melons are wholesome food beverages when consumed in moderation.
EXERCISE
It should be the regular practice of every expectant mother to spend a portion of each day in agreeable, suitable exercise or physical work of some description. This exercise will be far more beneficial if it can be taken in the open air. The weather and the strength of the patient must be taken into consideration and the necessary modifications of the daily exercise should be made.
An expectant mother living in the city and enjoying the average health and strength, should engage in such agreeable exercise as the raising of flowers, the training of vines, with brisk walks in the fresh air.
As much time as possible should be spent in the parks.
The rural "mother in waiting," may do light gardening, raising of chickens, or pigeons, training of vines, or other outdoor work she may enjoy.
No matter what kind of weather prevails, a daily brisk walk should be taken, out of doors, on the porch or in a room with open windows. A daily sweat, as well as the daily prayer, is good for the well-being of the expectant mother. All forms of light housework are commendable.
Keep out of crowds. Spend more time in the parks than in the department stores. An occasional evening at the concert or theater is diversion and harmless provided the ventilation is good. Such exercises as horseback riding, bicycling, dancing, driving over rough roads, lifting and straining of any kind, and all other forms of fatiguing exercise should be avoided.
REST
Rest and relaxation are quite necessary for men and women even in the best of health. A kind providence has arranged that we spend a large portion of our time resting, and sleeping. In addition to unbroken rest at night it is well for the prospective mother quietly to withdraw from the family circle, when the first signs of fatigue begin to appear, and indulge in a little rest, before she gets into a state of nervousness--where nerves twitch and she becomes irritable.
A mother who has borne six children, who has had little domestic help, and who yet retains her youthful appearance and energy, thinks her present condition due to the fact that while carrying and nursing her babies she never permitted herself to reach that stage of exhaustion where her nerves twitched, her voice shrilled, and she became irritable. She made it a practice to drop her work when these symptoms began to appear, and to seek the sanctuary of a quiet room apart from her family, if only for ten or fifteen minutes. And, most important, from the very start she trained her household to respect her right thus to draw apart.
I have told many women whose household duties press hard: "Your husband would rather see a cold lunch on the table, or "go out" for dinner, while his wife rested, smiling and happy, than to have a most sumptuous meal spread before him and the wife tired, and fretful."
Every woman should make it the rule of her life to stop just this side of the outburst of words, and lie down long enough, breathing deeply, to calm the spirit.
FRESH AIR
"With all persons plenty of fresh air, night and day, is indispensable to health, and to none more than the pregnant woman. She should sleep with the windows open, or out of doors, at all seasons of the year; of course, making due allowance for the severity of the winters in the North. It is not only necessary to provide for the adequate ventilation of sleeping-rooms, but also for that of the living-rooms of the house.
Many persons, who are quite particular to open wide the windows of the bedrooms, forget that the other rooms need it quite as much. All the rooms of the house which are occupied should be thoroughly ventilated by throwing doors and windows open every morning; at night when the family is a.s.sembled the air must be changed now and then or it will become unfit for human lungs."
Men and women are outdoor animals. They were made to live in a garden, not a house. Remember that each person requires one cubic foot of fresh air every second. Don"t allow the temperature of living-rooms, during the winter season, to go above sixty-eight degrees. If your home has no system of ventilation, open wide the windows and doors several times a day and enjoy the blessings of a thorough-going flushing with fresh air.
Oxygen is the vital fire of life. Our food, however well digested and a.s.similated, is just as useless to the body without oxygen, as coal is to the furnace without air. It is equally important to keep up the proper degree of moisture in the air of the living-rooms.
BATHING
Bathing is made necessary by the clothes we wear and by our indoor life. If the skin were daily exposed to sunshine and fresh air, it would seldom be necessary to bathe. The neglect of regular bathing results in overworking the liver and kidneys, and debilitates the skin. Regular bathing--ofttimes sweating baths--is very essential to the hygiene of pregnancy.
The neutral bath (97 F.) is excellent to quiet the nerves and induce sleep. Morning bathing is an exceedingly valuable practice. If properly taken before breakfast or midway between breakfast and lunch, it is found to be refreshing and tonic in nature. The feet should be in warm water, the application of cold should be short and vigorous. A rough mit dipped in cold water, rubbed over the body until the skin is pink, is a splendid tonic.
Warm cleansing baths should be taken twice a week at night. There is no good reason for the use of the v.a.g.i.n.al douche during pregnancy.
THE TEETH
Because the mother"s system is drained of the lime salts which aid in building up the bones of the child, along with other metabolic changes which cause the retention of certain acids which ofttimes affect the teeth, they should be frequently examined and carefully guarded.
Severe dental work should be avoided, but all cavities should receive temporary fillings while the teeth are kept free from deposits.
As a preventive to this tendency of the teeth to decay, a simple mouth wash of one of the following may be used after meals:
1. One teaspoon of milk magnesia.
2. One tablespoon of lime water.
3. One-half teaspoon common baking soda.
Any one to be dissolved in a gla.s.s of water.