urdliCka] physiological AND MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 55 



Amon^ the Opala, in Sonora, the fetus is believed to breathe, air 

 gainmg access to it through the vagina. Should the latter be occluded 

 in any manner the child would lose its breath and die. An Opata 

 woman recently testified to this effect in a case of suspected infanticide 

 before a court. 



labor; MULTIPLE AND ABNORMAL BIRTHS; PLACENTA; REAPPEAR- 

 ANCE OF MENSTRUATION 



Much has been said about the ease with which the Indian 

 woman undergoes childbirth. From what the writer has learned and 

 observed, and from what he knows of the subject in the case of white 

 women, however, it is his opinion that a healthy Indian woman of 

 normal physique, with a normal child, on the average sutlers 

 quite as much and as long as does the normal white woman under 

 similar conditions. The differences lie in the facts that the Indian 

 women as a rule are well built; that most of them are used to outdoor 

 life, and are healthy, strong, and very patient, and that, as com- 

 pared with the whites, a larger proportion of the children are abso- 

 lutely normal. Owing largely to these same factors the puerperium 

 m the Indian woman is often a very healthful one, and return to the 

 ordinary mode of life is (juite rapid. There is no indication of any 

 less organic sensibility in the Indian woman, comparing her always 

 with other women of similar social position. Nor are all the labors 

 of Indian women easy. Dystocia is well known, and manual assist- 

 ance is often needed and employed. 



There is generally but little visible preparation for the event of 

 childbirth. The woman walks about, at least within the dwelling, 

 and does more or less work up to the time when the pains have well 

 set in. Sometimes she is urged to walk or stand up to the last stage 

 of labor. She then reposes in different positions on a skin, a mat, or a 

 blanket, or on warm sand spread on the ground. Deliver}^ takes 

 place while the woman is squatting, or on her l<jiees, or on hands and 

 knees or elbows, or lying down; frequently she holds on to an attendant, 

 or to a sash, rope, strap, or stick which is fastened somewhere near 

 for the purpose. Ordinarily the only assistant is the mother or some 

 other female relative of mature years, but more than one woman or 

 person may be present. In most tribes there are older women who 

 are reputed especially apt helpers, a sort of midwives, who are ex- 

 pected to aid spiritually as well as physically. 



The assistance given is everywhere substantially the same, con- 

 sisting mainly of pressure or kneading with the hands or with a 

 bandage about the abdomen, the object of which is to give direct aid 

 in the expulsion of the child. The procedure, which is not always 

 gentle, accomplishes very probably the same result as the kneading 



