CHERAN : A SIERRA TARASCAN VILLAGE — BEALS 



167 



Sometimes, when the pains first start, the 

 patient is laid on a blanket which is then lifted 

 by four persons, one at each corner. The 

 mother is then turned around gently for 15 or 

 20 minutes. This is believed to hasten the 

 birth and aid the child to get into the proper 

 position. The midwife may also walk from 

 one side to another, saying, "I am coming," to 

 hurry the child. 



Most midwives specify certain materials 

 which should be provided by the family in 

 advance. These things include scissors, cook- 

 ing oil, lard, cotton, and silk thread. Parents 

 provide clothing for the child ; the midwife does 

 not specify anything for the infant. 



Some midwives, when the birth pains begin, 

 give the mother gobernadorcillo or possibly 

 other plants to accelerate the birth. In any 

 case it is asserted that the same herbs believed 

 to cause abortion are administered at this time, 

 usually with sugar or brown sugar. One herb 

 (unidentified) is called zihuapaxtle, a Nahua 

 name. There is no use of wheat rust, however. 

 When the crown of the head of the child is 

 visible, the midwife tries to hurry through the 

 rest of the birth so that there will be less danger 

 of the child being born dead. 



It is said that many normal births take only 

 about 15 minutes. This can hardly be counted 

 from the time the first labor pains are felt but 

 is possibly from the time the labor becomes 

 intense. Many mothers in Cheran, however, 

 seem to have fairly difficult births. Cases of 

 labor lasting as much as 6 or 7 hours are 

 reported. 



In case the labor is difficult and prolonged, 

 remedies of various sorts are used. The helpers 

 apply pressure to the abdomen. One midwife 

 boils a bezoar, the calcareous secretion from 

 the intestines of some ruminant, brought from 

 the hot country, and has the patient drink the 

 water. Another gives the mother hot chocolate 

 made with water and sugar, and massages the 

 abdomen. Another covers the patient v/ith a 

 blanket and has her breathe the fumes from 

 sugar or some sweet thing burned in a brazier. 

 One midwife stated that when the patient is 

 very "dry," that is, there is no discharge of blood 

 and no breaking of the amniotic membrane, a 

 bit of )wpal (prickly pear) leaf is roasted in 



the fire, opened and rubbed with oil, and placed 

 on the abdomen and coccyx of the patient. 



Some midwives say the influence of the phases 

 of the moon determines the length of labor. 

 Eclipses also affect the labors. Witchcraft or 

 improper care by the mother may be a cause of 

 prolonged labor. If much silky white liquid is 

 discharged in a difl[icult birth, it is said the 

 mother did not bathe herself and keep clean or 

 that she had relations with her husband after 

 she should have ceased. 



Breech px-esentations and other abnormal 

 positions are known, although one midwife had 

 not seen one in 5 years of practice. When they 

 occur the midwife must be adept at manipulat- 

 ing the child. She puts lard on her hands and 

 works the legs out first. The arms of the 

 foetus must be kept at its sides and the chin down 

 to prevent strangulation. According to one 

 account of a breech presentation, several mid- 

 wives were called in and an attempt was made 

 to get the doctor from Paracho. One midwife 

 (by her own account, at least) used a wooden 

 bowl to distend the cervix, reached in and 

 turned the child and delivered it successfully 

 before the doctor arrived. In difficult births 

 the child is sometimes born dead. The midwife 

 touches his belly to see if he is still breathing: 

 if he is, she lights a cigarette and puffs thft 

 smoke in his face "to wake him up." 



Twins are relatively rare, but are known to 

 a number of midwives, who do not report 

 special trouble with them. One remarked that 

 they came "like two cherries on branching 

 stems." The Mongoloid spot is described as 

 occurring occasionally. 



Numerous abnormalities in birth are re- 

 ported. Some are undoubtedly due to venerea! 

 diseases, about which the Cheran people know 

 very little. Even our most sophisticated in- 

 formant was a little dubious of just what 

 gonorrhea and syphilis were. Some abnormal- 

 ities, almost ceretainly due to syphilis, are at- 

 tributed to the father having worked in turpen- 

 tine. One midwife reported a case where the 

 father persisted in working in turpentine, which 

 foams when being boiled. When the child 

 started to arrive, the mother nearly suffocated. 

 All she could smell was turpentine. The child's 

 arm emerged first; it was black and when the 

 midwife touched it the skin broke and the 



