The Bowel Function . There must be one free evacuation daily. For the treatment of constipation in nursing women we have used different methods in many cases. The dietetic treatment by increasing the whole cereals, rough breads and cooked vegetables with plenty of recreation and exercise promise most. Manipulation of the diet should not be such as to interfere with the milk production.
Massage is available in comparatively few cases.
Local measures consist in the use of enemas and suppositories. Every nursing woman under our care is instructed to use an enema at bedtime if evacuation of the bowels has not taken place within the previous twenty-four hours. The amount of the cascara sagrada may be varied as the case may require. In not a few instances we have found it necessary to give two capsules a day in order to produce the desired result. Neither the nux vomica nor the cascara appears to have any appreciable effect on the child.