The Prospective Mother is a historically accurate account of pregnancy and motherhood. It includes such concepts as pregnancy corsets and other historical ways women prepared to give birth. Contents: "I. THE SIGNS OF PREGNANCY AND THE DATE OF CONFINEMENT II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OVUM III. THE EMBRYO IV. THE FOOD REQUIREMENTS DURING PREGNANCY V. THE CARE OF THE BODY VI. GENERAL HYGIENIC MEASURES VII. THE AILMENTS OF PREGNANCY."

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IX THE PREPARATIONS FOR CONFINEMENT Engaging the Nurse--Desirable Qualities in the Nurse-- Preliminary Visits of the Nurse--The Necessary Supplies for Confinement--The Baby's Outfit--Sterilization--The Choice and Arrangement of a Room--The Bed--The Preliminary Visit of the Doctor--When to Call the Doctor-- Personal Preparations--The Care of Obstetrical Patients at the Hospital. Prospective mothers are anxious to learn how they shall prepare for the approaching confinement. They desire their preparations to be thorough, reliable, and in accord with the most approved methods of treatment, for they realize that preparations along these lines will not only prevent haste and confusion at the time of birth, but will also promote a satisfactory convalescence. Apparently trivial details often safeguard confinement against serious accident. Indeed, measures which aim at the prevention of illness form the chief asset of modern obstetrics, and of these none takes higher rank than the maintenance of strict cleanliness during and after childbirth. This fact fortunately is widely appreciated at present, and not a few women inquire voluntarily the means of observing the proper precautions. It is true, of course, that even to r day many women are delivered in filthy rooms and upon dirty beds, and that in spite of such surroundings some of them make a good recovery. Yet grave complications develop much more frequently among those who have not paid attention to the preparations for confinement. The surgical dressings and other supplies do not require attention in the early months of pregnancy. A number of articles, invaluable when delivery occurs at full term, are useless if the fetus is immature and cannot live, and therefore it is unnecessary to...

A searching, eloquent memoir about the joys and hardships of open adoption God and Jetfire is a mother's account of her decision to surrender her son in an open adoption and of their relationship over the twelve years that follow. Facing an unplanned pregnancy at twenty-two, Amy Seek and her ex-boyfriend begin an exhaustive search for a family to raise their child. They sift through hundreds of "Dear Birth Mother" letters, craft an extensive questionnaire, and interview numerous potential couples. Despite the immutability of the surrender, it does little to diminish Seek's newfound feelings of motherhood. Once an ambitious architecture student, she struggles to reconcile her sadness with the hope that she's done the best for her son, a struggle complicated by her continued, active presence in his life. For decades, closed adoptions were commonplace. Now, new laws are guaranteeing adoptees' access to birth records, and open adoption is on the rise. God and Jetfire is the rare memoir that explores the intricate dynamics and exceptional commitment of an open-adoption relationship from the perspective of a birth mother searching for her place within it. Written with literary poise and distinction, God and Jetfire is a story of a life divided between grief and gratitude, regret and joy. It is an elegy for a lost motherhood, a celebration of a family gained, and an apology to a beloved son.