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The end of all that we have been treating of is, the bringing forth of a
child into the world with safety both to the mother and the infant, as
the whole time of a woman's pregnancy may be termed a kind of labour;
for, from the time of the conception to the time of her delivery, she
labours under many difficulties, is subject to many distempers, and in
continual danger, from one affection or other, till the time of birth
comes; and when that comes, the greatest labour and travail come along
with it, insomuch that then all the other labours are forgotten, and
that only is called the time of her labours, and to deliver her safely
is the principal business of the midwife; and to assist therein, shall
be the chief design of this chapter. The time of the child's being ready
for its birth, when nature endeavours to cast it forth, is that which is
properly the time of a woman's labour; nature then labouring to be eased
of its burden. And since many child-bearing women, (especially the first
child) are often mistaken in their reckoning and so, when they draw near
their time take every pain they meet with for their labour, which often
proves prejudicial and troublesome to them, when it is not so, I will in
the first section of this chapter, set down some signs, by which a woman
may know when the true time of her labour is come.
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