CHAPTER XIII.

_Of_ TWINS.

The Case of _Twins_ may, in many Country Places, be esteemed beyond the Skill of Women _practicing_ Midwifry; but as they are not alike ignorant, and this Delivery, with a right Management, is attended with no great Difficulty, I shall describe it as plainly as I can.

If a Child comes naturally by the Force of the _Mother_’s Pains, and the _After-birth_ does not easily follow, the Midwife, by passing her Hand to separate its Adhesion as directed in the sixth Chapter, will readily find whether _another_ Child still remains to be born, by the Appearance of other _Membranes_, including _Waters_, &c. And as where more than one is to be born, they are generally proportionably smaller, and tho’ the first Child comes naturally, the second may not, she need not wait for the _Birth_ of the other, by the meer Force of Nature, for this would greatly hazard the Life of the Child, and sometimes of the Mother, by a Flooding; but ought to break the _Membranes_, and search for the _Feet_, carefully preventing their being intangled with the _Navel-string_; and having got both in her Hand, draw them into the _Passage_; if the Child’s _Toes_ point to the _Mother’s Back_, there will be no Danger of the _Chin_ or _Nose_ being hung on the _Bones_ before, and she may draw the _Feet_ forth with the rest of the _Body_, without delaying to bring down the _Arms_, encouraging the Mother to assist in the mean Time, by _bearing down with or without Pains_.

In Case the _Child’s Toes_ should point to the _Mother’s Belly_, the Midwife, in drawing the Child forth from the _Hips forward_, must gradually _turn_ the _Belly_ of the Child towards the _Mother’s Back_, by the Assistance of the other Hand in the proceeding.

If the Woman be straiter, or the Child larger, than ordinary, when she has brought the Infant into the _Passage_ somewhat short of the _Arm-pits_, she must, by introducing her Fingers, first over one _Shoulder_, cautiously bring down one _Arm_, and then in like Manner the _other_, and drawing the Child forward, she must make Use of both Hands to extricate the _Head_; the _Fingers_ of one Hand between the _Mother’s Back_ and _Child’s Jaws_, bearing and drawing them from the _Back-bone_, and with the Fingers of the other Hand over the _Shoulders_, and the _flat_ against the _Child’s Back_, draw it forth, the Mother as aforesaid assisting all the while.

Writers advise putting two Fingers into the _Child’s Mouth_; but as great Injury has often been done that Way, it is much safer to bring the Child by _bearing_ with the Fingers against its _Jaws_. If an _Arm_ should be broke in _bringing down_, let it be spliced with thin Paste-board, and bound at its full Extent to preserve its right Shape.

In fetching an Infant by _turning_, ’tis necessary to draw its _Feet_ into the _Passage_, with the _Toes situate_ towards the _Infant’s Belly_, for it may be extreamly difficult, if not impossible, to draw it backwards, contrary to the natural _Bent_ of its _Thighs_ and _Back_; and a _Limb_ may sometimes as easily be pull’d off, as the Child brought to the _Birth_ this Way; the Midwife must therefore make Use of the _right_, or _left_ Hand in doing it, which happens to be most convenient, to the natural _bending_ of the Infant’s Body.

I THINK it cannot be safe for a Woman to _turn_ a Child upon ether Occasions requiring it; their Strength, as well as Skill being frequently inferior to the Task; besides, there may be great Danger of injuring the Vitals of the Mother in other Cases, especially after the Operation is unseasonably delay’d.

As each Child has a Navel-string, as well as After-birth belonging to it (tho’ both _Placenta_’s are sometimes so joined as easily to be distinguished) the Care respecting the _Navel-string_, already related in the Sixth Chapter, must of Course be taken for the First-born, and its _Secundines_ left, ’till after the Birth of the Second, when both, if necessary, must be separated and brought away, as there advis’d, with Regard to one alone, and the _Navel-string_ of the last Infant tied after the same Manner as in the Birth of one Infant.