University of Virginia Library

1. SITTING ERECT.

I hardly know whether to consider the erect sitting posture as an inclined or an upright position, but, as the pelvic axis is certainly more inclined than in the standing posture, and, as it will be very hard to draw a line between the distinctly erect sitting posture and the somewhat inclined, I have determined to place it among the inclined, and to consider it first under this head, because it is most nearly related to the perpendicular or upright. Women confined in this position make use of cushions, stones, stools, or mother earth herself; but the temptation to assume a somewhat reclining position, leaning against the assistant or some other support, is so great, that it is difficult to say with precision that the erect sitting posture is assumed, as the notes upon the subject, by most writers, are not sufficiently clear. I can find but one distinct description of a labor in which it is stated that the patient was confined sitting upright, and that this is the usual position among native

Australians, the weak women only lying down when in labor.[25]

The Nayer women, of Malabar, are confined while seated upon a cushion, or a low three-legged stool without a back, and are supported by the midwife, or some female relative. As is so common among savage races, they then bathe in the nearest stream, or other convenient water, immediately after delivery, and resume their work, as far as is permissible, in the state of uncleanliness in which they are considered to be after labor.[26]

In a similar way the native woman of Guatemala, South America, is confined. She is seated on the ground, supported by a midwife, who presses one knee into the small of her back.[27]

In Calabar, Africa, the same position is assumed, the woman sitting on a low chair, or block, while the midwife squats in front of her, pressing the sides of the abdomen.[28]

On the Canary Islands, the parturient woman sits upon the floor, with a chair or other support beside her, upon which her arms rest. In Astrakhan, in Russia, she sits in a similar way between two boxes or trunks, upon which her arms rest.[29]

A sitting position, with the body decidedly bent forward, was observed in a Sioux squaw, who, like her sisters among most of the Indian tribes, sought a solitary confinement upon the banks of a stream.[30] The position of this woman, until the expulsion of the child,—about forty minutes,— was cross-legged on the floor, her arms crossed over her breast, head bowed, and the body bent forward, especially

during the pains; the legs were crossed below the knee and in such a manner that the thighs were widely separated. I may, perhaps, add, though it is of little practical interest, that according to the Egyptologist, Professor Ebers, a hieroglyph is frequently found on some of the old Egyptian monuments which represents a woman sitting cross-legged, and seems to represent the act of expulsion.[31]