And also as the embryo matures it
comes down into the hollow of the womb and is observed to move here,
and sometimes rolls over in the vicinity of the groin.
9
When women are in labour, their pains determine towards many
divers parts of the body, and in most cases to one or other of the
thighs. Those are the quickest to be delivered who experience severe
pains in the region of the belly; and parturition is difficult in
those who begin by suffering pain in the loins, and speedy when the
pain is abdominal. If the child about to be born be a male, the
preliminary flood is watery and pale in colour, but if a girl it is
tinged with blood, though still watery. In some cases of labour
these latter phenomena do not occur, either one way or the other.
In other animals parturition is unaccompanied by pain, and the
dam is plainly seen to suffer but moderate inconvenience. In women,
however, the pains are more severe, and this is especially the case in
persons of sedentary habits, and in those who are weak-chested and
short of breath. Labour is apt to be especially difficult if during
the process the woman while exerting force with her breath fails to
hold it in.
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