Jinyi Spring

Chapter 14 Dystocia
In several nearby villages, there are only three official midwives: Feng Yipo, Wang Wenpo and Li Wenpo.

Because Feng was famous, she and Wang were often invited to deliver babies in the capital or far away places, while Li was mostly in these villages. If she was too busy, there would be older women with experience in delivering babies to help.

A woman asked Feng Chuchen, "Has your midwife Wang not come back yet?"

Feng Chuchen shook his head, "No."

A woman in her forties ran over from the west side of the village, looking excited.

"I heard that Jinniu's wife is pregnant with a debt collector, and midwife Li is not here, so I'll go and help deliver the baby."

She wants to earn this money.

The so-called "debt collector ghost" refers to the child who caused his mother's difficult labor, meaning that he comes to collect debts from his mother.

One person said, "Auntie Huo, the Golden Bull daughter-in-law had a difficult labor and couldn't give birth. Can you help her?"

Mrs. Huo said, "I have given birth to four babies. I attended to the births of my two daughters-in-law and my sow. I have also seen a midwife deliver a baby with a difficult birth, so I know what to do."

He took out another ball of hair and said proudly, "This is the hair I usually collect. If it doesn't work, let her eat this."

The sunlight made my hair shiny and greasy, and there was some dust on it.

Feng Chuchen felt disgusted for a moment. Aunt Wang also liked to use hair to induce fertility, but she would wash the collected hair thoroughly.

Another stout woman said, "You can't deliver the baby by yourself. I'm strong and I can massage the waist. I'll help too."

Patting the waist means hugging the waist of the woman who has just given birth.

The two ran towards the Jiang family.

Feng Chuchen knew that in ancient times women gave birth in either upright or lying position, with the vast majority choosing the upright position.

Vertical delivery includes sitting, standing, kneeling and squatting.

This type of delivery requires two people to assist, one to deliver the baby and one to hold the woman's waist from behind.

The person who holds the waist is also very important. He must be experienced and strong so that the mother does not tilt and the fetus can be born smoothly.

In the eyes of the ancients, vertical delivery has more advantages than horizontal delivery. Because of the effect of gravity, the cervix opens faster, the pressure of the fetus on the mother's waist and back is reduced accordingly, the pain is reduced, and the chance of dystocia is greatly reduced.

Among the vertical positions, sitting delivery is the most common and saves energy for the mother.

If it is the first child or the mother is weak and has a difficult birth, it is better to give birth while standing. In this position, in addition to having someone hold the waist, the mother herself must hold the rope or stick hanging from the beam.

A regular midwife will prepare several necessary items, including a large basin, scissors, a handkerchief, and a small scale.

The big basin is used to catch the baby, the towel is used to wipe the mother's body, the scissors are used to cut the umbilical cord, and the small scale is used to weigh the baby.

Some things for difficult labor will also be prepared, such as labor-inducing drugs, hair, rolling pins, etc.

Only Doctor Feng did not prepare hair and a rolling pin. Instead, she brought an extra stick of incense, three needles and a small incense burner.

If the midwife encounters a difficult delivery, the first step is to give the mother labor-inducing drugs and wipe her lower body with warm water to promote the delivery process.

If these two methods are useless, most midwives will let the mother eat hair in order to cause severe stomach discomfort and vomiting in the mother, increase abdominal pressure, and "squeeze" the baby out.

If the fetus cannot be delivered, or the mother has no strength to give birth, she should use a rolling pin to roll and press on her belly.

None of these things are of any use, midwives can only rely on their own skills and display their special talents.

If the baby is born sideways or backwards, the midwife will have to put the baby's hands or feet back into the body and try to correct the fetal position, which will test the midwife's experience even more...

There are also unhygienic midwives or makeshift midwives who do not disinfect scissors with boiling water. If there are no scissors, they will use other sharp objects or even bite the umbilical cord with their teeth, causing infection to the mother and baby... The ancients said that giving birth is a trip before the King of Hell, which is absolutely true.

If the family does not hire a midwife and is poor and does not have a special basin to catch the baby, the baby will have to be born on the grass.

This is where the saying "in ancient times, giving birth to a child was like becoming a bandit" came from.

The birth of a child in a basin is called "Lian Pen", and this word has been used until modern times. Lan Pen also refers to giving birth to a child...

The original owner had many memories about childbirth, some of which she saw with her own eyes and some of which she heard from her aunt and Aunt Wang.

In her previous life, Feng Chuchen had read about how women gave birth in the old days in books, and even in the 1950s, it was still the same in rural areas. After traveling here, she felt it for real, and she shed a handful of sympathy tears for the ancient women.

In ancient times, if a woman encountered a difficult delivery, even a regular midwife would have difficulty in handling the situation, let alone someone who was not a midwife delivering the baby.

Can only be left to fate.

Some people shook their heads and sighed, "Alas, Taurus's wife is unlucky. If Doctor Feng were still alive, she would be able to take on the task no matter how difficult it is."

"Yes, my daughter-in-law had a small butt, and I was thinking of asking Doctor Feng to deliver the baby, but she died."

Feng Chuchen had practiced in obstetrics and gynecology in her previous life, but she was not confident that she could deliver a difficult birth in the ancient times without any instruments. Moreover, unmarried girls were not allowed to deliver babies in this era, so even if she wanted to save lives, she could not help deliver babies.

The brother and sister came to Wang Dazhu's house.

Wang Dazhui's wife knows how to raise sheep. She can earn some money by selling the lambs born from the ewes, and they live a good life.

It is precisely because Aunt Wang has this skill and is so good at it that the cunning mother-in-law, Old Lady Wang, dare not bully her too much.

When Aunt Wang heard about their purpose, she smiled and said, "It's free. We don't like goat milk, it has a strong smell."

Feng Chuchen smiled and said, "Drinking goat milk is good for your health. I will buy it for my brother often in the future. I would be embarrassed not to charge him."

Aunt Wang took three cents. She had never thought that the goat milk with a strong smell of mutton could earn some money for the family.

Then he smiled and said, "From now on, as long as my ewe has milk, I will send a bowl to your house every day, so you don't have to come running here."

Her family has three ewes, and they give birth at staggered times, so she has goat milk to sell for most of the year.

"Okay, thank you, Aunt Wang."

A large bowl can be divided into two drinks, one bowl in the evening and one bowl in the morning.

Feng Chuchen was afraid that Feng Buji would not want to drink it, so he said, "Goat milk doesn't taste good. Go buy some jasmine tea and brew it together. It can remove the smell."

Feng Buji said, "No matter how smelly it is, it is better than bitter medicine. There is no need to spend money to buy tea."

His family had already spent a lot of money on medical treatment and he didn't want to spend more money on the smell of mutton.

Wang Dazhui's mother, Old Lady Wang, came over from the Jiang family, cursing.

Feng Buji was a polite child, and greeted, "Grandma Wang."

Old Lady Wang ignored her, spat out of the courtyard, and cursed, "I gave birth to eleven children. Except for Dazhu, who had a midwife, the others fell out by themselves like a fart when I exerted force.

"Another one didn't hold it in place, and urinated in the toilet. Dazhu gave birth easily, so the money spent on the midwife was a waste. These women are too squeamish, and they yelled loudly, thinking that they were the only ones who could lay eggs.

"Does it hurt so much? Does it hurt so much? If it were my wife, I would shut her up. It's so embarrassing..."

　Thank you Menghui Moganshan and 20220916074852062 for your rewards, and thank you everyone for your monthly tickets and various supports.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)