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Much as magnetism was
used in surgical procedures in the mid 19th
century, it likewise was used to ease the process
of labour and delivery.
Labour in the Mesmeric State. From The Zoist 2, V. 5 “In January last, I was requested to mesmerise M. K., a young Irishwoman, 22 years of age, with a view to her being delivered of her first child in the mesmeric sleep; her susceptibility to the mesmeric influence having been ascertained by various experiments. The patient was under the care of Mr. Whitehead, one of the surgeons to the Lying-in Hospital, who attended the case throughout, and who is agreed that my notes of it are correct. “I mesmerised the patient on the evenings of Friday, Jan. 19th; Sunday, the 21st; and Friday, the 23rd; and the general effects of the mesmerism were to allay a nervous irritability from which she was suffering, and to procure for her sounder and more refreshing sleep than she had had for some weeks previously. On the first night of mesmerising she said, in the sleep-waking state, that she should not be delivered before Tuesday, the 23rd; beyond that date she said she could not see. On the second night she said she should be taken ill between 10 and 12 on Wednesday night the 22nd, but could not see whether or not she should be delivered at that time; she however believed not. On the third night of mesmerising she again said she should be taken ill on the Wednesday night, and restricted the time to between 10 and 11 o’clock; but again said she believed she should not be in labour. “On Thursday morning, at 4 o’clock, I was sent for, and found her in strong pains of labour,— her hands clenched, her teeth grinding together, and her face and head bathed in perspiration. In about two minutes she was put to sleep, and in less than five minutes she was in the sleep-waking state, utterly insensible to pain, and conversing freely and carelessly with any one who was placed in mesmeric relation with her, otherwise she was not conscious of any one speaking to her. “This state of perfect insensibility lasted about an hour and a half during which time the action of labour was going on almost continually, some of the throes being very violent, so much so as, in one case, to rupture one of the membranes. After this time, sensibility began gradually to manifest itself, the patient at first feeling the pains very slightly, afterwards more acutely, but never so acutely as in the waking state. Although the insensibility was less, the sleep-waking state still continued; the patient however begged me to awaken her, but on being asked why she wished to be awoke, and whether she should suffer less pain when awake than as she then was, she replied that, on the contrary, she should suffer more pain, hut that she wished to be awake, — she could not tell why. As Mr. Whitehead was of opinion that the labour might continue for six or eight hours longer, the os uteri being still somewhat rigid, and the head of the child not having descended below the upper aperture of the pelvis, I determined on awaking her, and, if possible, on being with her during the last hour or two of her time. “She was awoke soon after 7, when the sensibility to pain was found to be very much greater than it had ever been in the sleep-waking state. I was unfortunate in not being able to see her again before her delivery, which took place at 2 o’clock. I saw her in the evening at 6, and mesmerised her for twenty minutes, leaving her refreshed and comfortable; and she has since continued very well. “The insensibility, during an hour and a half, was complete; I believe that any operation might, during that time, have been performed without giving her the least pain. Her prediction as to the time at which she would be taken ill was verified, as she was seized soon after 10 o’clock on the Wednesday night; but she was at fault in supposing her illness would not be labour. She also gave some description of her child, which proved, on its birth, to be incorrect. In her waking state, up to time of her seizure, she had no more definite notion of the time when she would be brought to bed than that she thought it would be somewhere about the end of the month. “The child was born alive, and, as well as the mother, has gone on very well since. “Feb. 23rd, 1841. J. P. Lynell, Manchester.” Benefit of Mesmerism during and after Labour. By Mr. Chandler. From The Zoist v. IV, no. 15 Mrs. Payne … aet. 39, pregnant with her seventh child, having for a long time been very susceptible of mesmerism, I determined, with her consent, to attempt delivery during the mesmeric coma, or rather in the state of sleep-waking. She has always had most protracted labours, and was lingering for many days with her last child. Aug. 4th, 1846. I was called to attend her at half-past 1 a.m. I found the pains quick, and rather severe, but not of a bearing character. After remaining with her a few minutes, she was placed on the bed, and I mesmerised her, as usual, with two slow passes. The spasmodic action went on as before, but she ceased complaining; and, on asking her if she felt pain, she said (answering my whisper as usual) no; but complained of the heat (the weather being very hot) and thirst. After an hour and a half I awoke her, to allow her to change her position and take some drink; — when she immediately began to complain of pain. — I put her to sleep again, and, finding that labour was not advancing, left her for two hours; at the end of which time, as the pains had nearly ceased, I awoke her to relieve her from her cramped position, and left her awake, finding the labour was likely to be very lingering. She continued much in the same state, with occasional slight pains, until the following Thursday, Aug. 6th, when I was summoned, at 10 a.m. Finding her in tolerably active labour, I placed her on the bed and mesmerised her; the action continued very strong, and labour advanced slowly until 1, when there was again an almost entire cessation; so that I deemed it advisable to awake her, fearing it would be yet many hours. During the time the labour continued, the bearing down was very heavy, and the patient appeared to be suffering the usual labour pains; but she continued to declare, in answer to my inquiries, that she felt no pain. This was just what I expected, I had indeed expressed an opinion to several persons, who doubted whether labour would go on, — that she would appear to be bearing her labour very patiently. She constantly complained of heat and thirst, and said once or twice she felt ill, but could not tell what was the matter. At half-past 6, I was again sent for, and, on my arrival, found her in strong labour. I immediately placed her under the mesmeric influence. Labour appeared still to advance, but slowly; and at half-past 7, the distended vesica appearing to prevent the descent of the head, I drew off the fluid, and the labour terminated very favourably both to mother and child at five minutes before 8, without the former being in the slightest degree conscious of the birth of the child. I left her in the mesmeric sleep an hour and a half, and then awoke her to be got comfortably into bed, and had great difficulty in persuading her that she was delivered: indeed, several times during the night she awoke (from her natural sleep) with slight after-pains, and expressed to her nurse a wish that it might soon be over, quite forgetting, for the time, that the child was born, and imagining the pains were those of labour. I did not leave her mesmerised during the night, as the after pains were not severe, and she expressed a wish to have the power of moving. Though in her former labours always a severe sufferer from after-pains, she remained tolerably free from them on this occasion until 28 hours after delivery, when they came on with great severity; so much so, that I was sent for at half-past 12 at night, and found her complaining very loudly. I immediately mesmerised her, and, her complaints ceased, though the appearance of pains continued, but became gradually weaker and less frequent. On awaking her, about an hour after, she still complained; and, as there was much tenderness of the abdomen, I thought it advisable to give her 25 drops of laudanum. I then mesmerised her again, and left her in the sleep seven hours; at the end of which time I awoke her quite easy and refreshed. During the sleep, she several times conversed with her attendant, apparently knowing she was mesmerised — (as she always has done in her sleep-waking state), and telling her to get some gruel ready against my waking her: she also sang several times, and appeared much excited. This was of course to be attributed to the laudanum, which I might as well have omitted, as she had afterwards no recollection of suffering pain more than a few minutes, and this was evidently before I arrived and mesmerised her. The time from half-past 12 to half-past 7 was quite lost to her…. Sept. 3rd. Both mother and child have gone on remarkably well up to the present time. Thomas Chandler. 68, Paradise Street, Rotherhithe. Unconscious
Delivery in the Mesmeric Sleep by Mr. CHANDLER,
Surgeon.
From The Zoist vol. 6, no. 21 TO THE EDITOR OF THE ZOIST. Sir, – I beg to forward you a short account of another mesmeric accouchment, being the second which has occurred in my practice. Mrs. Moss, ret. 26, whose tooth was extracted in the mesmeric sleep by Mr. Bell, in December, 1846, (Zoist, No. XVI., p. 573), became pregnant with her third child. I told her she could be delivered in the mesmeric sleep with just as much certainty and safety as her tooth had been drawn. She was of course quite willing, and I proposed to mesmerise her occasionally, just to keep up the influence. This, however, appeared unnecessary, for I soon found that her susceptibility had much increased since she became pregnant; whether on that account or not I will not pretend to say. The circumstance at least is worthy of observation, particularly as it recalls to my mind a little incident which occurred to me at the very commencement of my mesmeric career, viz., a lady, far advanced in pregnancy, who proved very susceptible at the first trial, but showed no susceptibility some months after her confinement, I having been afraid to continue to mesmerise her in the interval. The question arises, are women more susceptible of the influence of mesmerism during pregnancy than at other times? Mrs. Moss formerly required passes for one or two minutes to send her to sleep, but now went off with a single pass, and instead of requiring fifteen or sometimes even twenty minutes for the loss of sensation to become perfect, travelling from the tips of the fingers to the crown of the head, it now left her in less than five minutes, the time shortening as her accouchment drew near, until at last when she was in labour it left almost the instant she was mesmerised. January 19th, 1848, at 4 p.m., she sent for me. I found she had been suffering very slight pains all the morning and that they were just beginning to increase. I immediately mesmerised her, and when the next pain, or rather I should say, in this case, effort came, she said she felt nothing of it. The efforts, however, immediately became visibly very heavy and rapid, and she was delivered of a fine boy in twenty minutes after my arrival. The bearing down accompanied the efforts, just as in ordinary labour and just as in my former case, … and having now had the experience of two cases, I have no hesitation in pronouncing mesmerism quite as safe in midwifery cases as ether or chloroform. My patient’s surprize, when I awoke her and told her she was delivered, was most amusing. I immediately sent her off again and left her, ordering her to awake in an hour, which she did almost to a minute. I saw her again in the evening and found that her sensibility had not returned in any part. She was quite free from after-pains; though after her last confinement, she suffered severely from them. I mesmerised her for four or five minutes, to ensure a continuation of the loss of sensibility, and then awoke her and left her awake, giving her no opium. In the morning, I found her remarkably well, having passed an excellent night. I mesmerised her again for five minutes and left her. At my visit the following morning, I found her complaining of very slight after-pains, and her sensibility had partially returned. I mesmerised her for a few minutes, when the pains left and never returned. Two or three days after, I found her complaining of very sore nipples; nursing the baby caused her great agony. I mesmerised her a few minutes, and the next time she put the child to the breast, she felt nothing of it. She continues to go off with even half a pass; for the moment the points of the fingers come opposite to the eyes they are closed, and her sensation is entirely gone the same instant. This greatly increased susceptibility is certainly very curious. This case was only more perfect than my former one, inasmuch as it was, in every respect, more favourable; being altogether as rapid as the other was lingering. The external, physical signs of labour were all present, though the patient was quite unconscious of any suffering. |