A textbook of obstetrics . ares her belief in theexistence of pregnancy. Iwas once consulted by aprostitute who firmly be-lieved she had been preg-nant for a year, or eversince her occupation hadexposed her to the dan-ger of impregnation. Theabdomen was distended ;the breasts were enlargedand painful, though not se-creting ; menstruation wasvery scanty and irregular,and the woman assertedthat she felt fetal move-ments. The abdominal dis-tention was due to fat andgas. The uterus was un-impregnated. I have fre-quently seen women whoput on an excessive amountof abdominal and omental fat as they a
A textbook of obstetrics . ares her belief in theexistence of pregnancy. Iwas once consulted by aprostitute who firmly be-lieved she had been preg-nant for a year, or eversince her occupation hadexposed her to the dan-ger of impregnation. Theabdomen was distended ;the breasts were enlargedand painful, though not se-creting ; menstruation wasvery scanty and irregular,and the woman assertedthat she felt fetal move-ments. The abdominal dis-tention was due to fat andgas. The uterus was un-impregnated. I have fre-quently seen women whoput on an excessive amountof abdominal and omental fat as they approach middle age, and who, in consequence ofthe abdominal enlargement, believe themselves pregnant. Men-struation may be entirely absent or so scanty as scarcely to attractthe womans attention, and all the subjective signs of pregnancymay be accurately described. It often requires in these cases anexamination under anesthesia before the unimpregnated conditionof the uterus can be detected. Weir Mitchell asserts that once. Fig. 148.—Pseudocyesis : Amenorrheafor eight months, but vicarious menstruationfrom nose every month. The uterus is nor-mal in size, position, movability. The ab-dominal distention is due solely to tympanitesand fat. 14 2IO PREGNANCY. these womens minds are disabused of the idea that they are preg-nant, the abdominal enlargement rapidly subsides and all the sub-jective symptoms of pregnancy immediately disappear. I have nodoubt of the accuracy of Dr. Mitchells observation, but I can notconfirm his statement because the patient who is assured she is notpregnant disappears from my view. Occasionally it is impossibleto convince a woman that she is not pregnant if she has allowed theidea of pregnancy to take entire possession of her mind. Thereapplied for admission on one occasion, at the Maternity Hospitalof Philadelphia, a little, wizened old lady with gray hair, whowas apparently at least sixty years old. She volunteered thestatement that many years before
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectobstetrics, bookyear1
