A textbook of obstetrics . live, fetal movementsmay bo plainly seen. These are of two characters : there is aheaving movement of the fetal back, and a sharp, sudden tap ofthe fetal extremities. Fetal movements, if unmistakable, arepositive signs of pregnancy, but they have been simulated bytwitching of the abdominal muscles and by the vermiformmovements of the intestines. Vagina and Vulva.— The mucous membrane of the vestibuleand of the vagina assumes a purple hue in the later months ofgestation, which has been aptly compared in color to the leesof wine. The discoloration of the mucous membran
A textbook of obstetrics . live, fetal movementsmay bo plainly seen. These are of two characters : there is aheaving movement of the fetal back, and a sharp, sudden tap ofthe fetal extremities. Fetal movements, if unmistakable, arepositive signs of pregnancy, but they have been simulated bytwitching of the abdominal muscles and by the vermiformmovements of the intestines. Vagina and Vulva.— The mucous membrane of the vestibuleand of the vagina assumes a purple hue in the later months ofgestation, which has been aptly compared in color to the leesof wine. The discoloration of the mucous membrane of thevagina and of the vaginal introitus is usually most marked uponthe inner surface of the labia majora and upon the fold of vagi-nal mucous membrane on the anterior wall that comes into view when the labia are separated (Plate 6,Figs. 3 and 4). It is occasionallyconfined to the fossa navicularis(Plate 6, Fig. 2), or to the deeperportions of the vaginal rugae. Thepigmentation of the mucous mem-in some cases as early. brane begins as the fourth week. Chadwick l in281 cases found it diagnostic in thir-teen per cent, at the end of the secondmonth ; in forty-six per cent, at theend of the third month. The sign is byno means an infallible one. It is oftenabsent altogether in early pregnane)-,and I have frequently noted its entireabsence at term. There are, more-oxer, other conditions than pregnancyerethism, pelvic tumors, intense con-Even if the blue discoloration is notvisible, one may always notice in the later months a transforma-tion of the pink color of the mucous membrane of the introitusinto a bright scarlet. Signs Appreciated by the Sense of Touch.—. Xbdominal Palpa-tio)!.— By this method are learned the size and shape of theUterus, and after the sixth month the fetal back, head, and ex-tremities may be By placing the outstretched hand overtlie fundus, tin. intermittent uterine contractions, to which atten- Fig. 143.—Linea nigra, visibleonly below the umb
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidtex, booksubjectobstetrics
