64 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



(bull. 34 



Daration of labor « 



a More detail tables will be found at the end of the chapter. 



In the majority of the cases the labor with the first child was pro- 

 longed; there is, however, but little uniformity as to duration in this 

 or other series of births (see detail table). In eight families where 

 records of more than one child, including the first, were obtained, the 

 labor in the first case was longer than in the second in four, about 

 equal in one, and shorter in three instances. The longest labor (seven 

 days) occurred with the third cjiild; the two next longest (each four 

 days), one with a first and one with a second child. 



The delivery of the placenta took place in all but two instances 

 within less than one-half hour after the birth of the child. In the 

 majority of the cases the interval was very short — one or two pains — 

 "a very short while," ''a short while." In one case, however (first 

 child), the afterbirth was delivered only after a delay of four hours, 

 and in another (fourth child) after five hours. There is no suggestion 

 of any relation between the promptness of the delivery of the child 

 and that of the placenta, or between this and the order of birth of 

 the child (first, second, etc.). 



Another point in the inquiry may be considered in this place, 

 namely, the reestablishment of the menses after childbirth. There 

 were collected only 21 reliable records of this class, but there are in 

 addition a number of others of negative nature, showing the time (age 

 of the infant) at which menstruation has not yet reappeared. The 

 data, given in a table below," show much irregidarity. While in indi- 



aSee also the details at the end of this chapter. 



