A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery . of careful study. They produce those mar-vellous modifications which eifect the transformation of the smallundeveloped uterus of the non-pregnant state into the large andfully-developed uterus of pregnancy, and have no parallel in the wholeanimal economy. A knowledge of them is essential for the proper comprehension of the 1 Acad, des Sciences, p. 308. PREGNANCY. 133 phenomena of labor and for the diagnosis of pregnancy which the prac-titioner is so frequently called upon to make. Excluding the varieties ofabnormal pregnancy, which will be
A treatise on the science and practice of midwifery . of careful study. They produce those mar-vellous modifications which eifect the transformation of the smallundeveloped uterus of the non-pregnant state into the large andfully-developed uterus of pregnancy, and have no parallel in the wholeanimal economy. A knowledge of them is essential for the proper comprehension of the 1 Acad, des Sciences, p. 308. PREGNANCY. 133 phenomena of labor and for the diagnosis of pregnancy which the prac-titioner is so frequently called upon to make. Excluding the varieties ofabnormal pregnancy, which will be noticed in another place, we shallhere limit ourselves to the consideration of the modifications of thematernal organism which result from simple and natural gestation. Changes in the Uterus.—The unimpregnated uterus measures 2|- inchesin length and weighs about 1 oz., while at the full term of pregnancy ithas so immensely grown as to weigh 24 oz. and measure 12 inches. Thegrowth commences as soon as the ovum reaches the uterus, and continues Fig. Relations of the Pregnant Uterus at Sixth Month to the Surrounding Parts. (After Martin) uninterruptedly until delivery. In the early months the uterus is con-tained entirely in the cavity of the pelvis, and the increase of size isonly apparent on vaginal examination, and that with difficulty. Beforethe third month the enlargement is chiefly in the lateral direction, sothat the whole body of the uterus assumes more of a spherical shapethan in the non-pregnant state. If an opportunity of examining thegravid uterus post-mortem should occur at this time, it will he found tohave the form of a sphere flattened somewhat posteriorly and bulginganteriorly. After the ascent of the organ into the abdomen it develops more inthe vertical direction, so that at term it has the form of an ovoid, with 134 PREGNANCY. Fig. 73. its large extremity above and its narrow end at the cervix uteri, and itslongitudinal axis corresponds to the long diameter o
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectobstetrics, bookyear1
