Antall József szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 62-63. (Budapest, 1971)

TANULMÁNYOK - Meigs, J. Wister: Kontagionisták, antikontagionisták és a gyermekágyi láz (angol nyelven)

/, W. Meigs: Contagionists, Anticontagionists

. 59 "No. 327 Saturday Utk June 1831, Mrs. S ... Corner 7th & Lombard St. ôth preg. A man (Mr. S . . .) came to me out of breath, with a request that I would see his wife

—her child being bron and something the matter. 'Is she flooding?' 'I don't know sir! 'Then go to the apothecary and get me 30 gr. of Ergot, and bring it to me at your house, I will go at once.' On entering the house, I found everything confusion and alarm. The woman herself laid on her back at the foot of the bed, with every appearance of one, dying with hemorrhage

—The bed woman who had attended her, (Mrs. P ...) whispered in my ear. 'The afterbirth is all there, with the cord and all, I dint pull it any, I dint make no resistance.' The patient had no pulse, blue lips, eyes very open, cold hands and arms, legs and feet

—/ placed my hand on the belly and there was a perfect hollow above the pubis. Then, passing my hand underneath the bed clothes I found a large mass lying between the thighs which when I looked at it proved to be the womb, completely inverted and with its fundus covered with a placenta, while the whole globe was invested with the membranes. 'Send for Dr. James and ask him to come to me immediately' [Dr. Thomas C. James was Professor of Obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania.] / found a great quantity of blood about her. I whispered to one of the women. 'The old woman has turned the womb inside out — and she will die,' I then endeavored to return the womb but could not do anything with it—I found the placenta was in my way as to the reduction

—Dr. James came in. The hemorrhage having been very great and the woman so much exhausted I was afraid to detach the placenta, lest more bleeding would carry her off suddenly, Dr. J. then at my request attempted to return the organ but after trying sometime, could not, he then advised to remove the placenta which we did

—and I found the membranes still adhering to the womb, and stripped them off along with the placenta which was quite firmly adherent and which accounts for the accident. Doubtless the old woman turned the organ inside out in attempting to pull away the afterbirth. As we tore off the placenta some portions continued to adhere to the womb and I did not observe any blood to flow from the surfaces whence it was detached. I now with one finger pushed against the fundus, depressed it and as it turned in I added the second finger then bent the last phalanges of the threefingers so as to form with them a round knob and with very severe pressure the womb entered again into the inferior strait, through the excavation, the superior strait and into the belly. As I found my finger pushing through the superior strait I requested Dr. James to oppose my progress by pressing his hand edgeways in the hypogastrium so as to give me some resistance but to yield a little as I advanced. I think I found great service from this process. In this way I went on until I found the womb completely restored, my arm being embraced near the upper third of the radius by the vulva. Now gave 30 gr. Ergot. I held the hand still and the womb did not contract for sometime

—although a kind of grinding motion took place and the womb embraced the hand firmly

—then another pain, and another until the hand was squeezed out into the vagina from whence I withdrew it. Soon after the womb was reverted