A system of obstetrics . ev, Hecker, Fesser, andBailly, including a very large number of observations, give a weightof less than seven pounds. Variations in weight at term between sixand nine pounds1 are by no means rare, and the range of possibilityas to the weight of a mature foetus is a very wide one. Thus Harris2tells of one infant that weighed but a pound, and of another, the childof the Nova Scotia Giantess, that weighed twenty-eight and three-fourthspounds. A decided departure, however, from the normal average wouldindicate, on the one hand, prematurity or a weak development; on theothe
A system of obstetrics . ev, Hecker, Fesser, andBailly, including a very large number of observations, give a weightof less than seven pounds. Variations in weight at term between sixand nine pounds1 are by no means rare, and the range of possibilityas to the weight of a mature foetus is a very wide one. Thus Harris2tells of one infant that weighed but a pound, and of another, the childof the Nova Scotia Giantess, that weighed twenty-eight and three-fourthspounds. A decided departure, however, from the normal average wouldindicate, on the one hand, prematurity or a weak development; on theother, the prolongation of pregnancy, race peculiarities, the vigor or ex-cessive size of the parents, especially the mother, or the preoccurrenceof several pregnancies. Sex also influences the size of the infant, malesbeing, on an average, larger than females. The length of a maturefoetus is 20-21 inches (51-53 cm.). The width across the shoulders(binacromial diameter) is about 12 cm. ( in.); the dorso-sternal Fig. A Convenient Instrument for Measuring the Diameters of the Foetal Head (Martins Pelvimeter). diameter is cm. ( in.); the biniliac, cm. (4 in.). Thelength of the foot is about 8 The dimensions of the head areimportant, not only as a sign of the development of the foetus, butfrom their important relation to the calibre of the parturient shape and the size of the foetal head in utero immediately beforelabor begins, and before the occurrence of the moulding to the irregu-larities of outline that characterize the pelvic straits and cavity, may belearned from the observation of those infants that have been extractedafter Cesarean section. 1 An infant of over nine pounds is not common, while heavier weights are progress-ively rarer. Out of 1000 infants, Dr. Parvin saw but one that weighed 11 pounds(Parvins Obstet., p. 138). Of 1156 infants born in the Maternity Hospital, the heav-iest weighed 12 pounds. 2 Note to Playfairs Midwifery. 3
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectobstetrics, bookyear1
