Omaha daily bee., 1914-07-30
Will the Curse of Eden Be
Lifted from Woman?

est argument and a very good one It is.
that human life is So precious thing
that physician, bound by his Escalapian
oath, dares not gamble with It.
1T was tried in our city hospitals and
we gave it up because the risk to the
mother We thought too great" explained
New York authority
Said one who had watched the same
attempts There was no danger to the
mother, hut we lost some children"
L will not criticise what l have not
seen" This wss the most liberal voice
in the chorus. But have known cases
Of motherhood without suffering, a very
few. They were caused by equal parts
Of sedatives and OF autosugEestion."
A physician who had visited the Fret
burg hospital and for days had watched
the work of tho crazy enthusiasts" said
But scopolamin is a poison. We induce
twilight sleep by the ether cone and by
chloroform. That is mathematical exact
ness When you see the patient has had
enough, you remove the cone. But inject
a poison into the body and you can do
no more. The poison is king for a while.
Besides. the German doctors say them
selves that the dommersohlaf, the twi-
light sleep. must be given In a hospital
with two doctors and two nurses to
watch each case. That puts the matter
beyond the reach OF a poor woman. u
would bankrupt any but the richest ones.
J tell you, Il amounts to q faith cure"
There will never be motherhood with
out sufferIngs." says one
There will be no painless maternity
until women return TO the simple out
door life OF the indian" vows another.
II have known a few instances of the
great sacrifice without corresponding
suffering" said one OF the great OBJ
stetricians. "I have known them, but |
have not known why they were. / hope
that some day motherhood will not mean
agony. But 1 don't know and l don't
know how 1t can be done"
Doctors are heroes and towards Heroes
in the fight for q patients life; towards
shivering at the name OF that medical
specter, Professional etiquette" Pledged
TO help and save humanity. they fear to
announce benitcent discovery to a suf-
! fering world lest the medical society glib
| bet them. Doctors are as cruel to their
kind as the prosecutors of old women
when the world was darkened by belief
in witchcraft.
There are progressives and obstruction
| lists They have improved the science of
medicine a little and the art of surgery
a great doals But they have put brakes
on the wheels all the way. They said
tuberculosis could not be cured and they
prosecuted and DETAINED the doctors who
| discovered cures. They said cancer could
never be cured and grudgtngly they have
admitted that some forms can be cured
and some stages arrested They are the
order who have died in the service of the
sick in a plague, but once all of them
believed in leeches and bled a man 20
make him well.
They are in this respect of medicine
cutters. They tried to bring about pain
less maternity and after comparatively
few trials gave It up. They have decided
the supreme suffering OF the world must
be borne to the end. The dentists have
been more perservering. Once dentists
said you must suffer agony when a tooth
is drawn. Now experts draw it for you
at 2, and at 2l5 you appear smiling in a
matinee audience. or course the first
! efforts were discouraging. II nearly KILLED
, the first patient to have his tooth pain
| lessly extracted, but dental science kept
on trying.
That is what the women expect the
medical profession to do. We do not
know whether the little group Of enthus-
lasts IN the Baden hospital is mistaken.
But we don't want to see It traduced.
Some OF us know that the light of pub
licity that beats upon the little hospital
toward which the thoughts of mothers
are turning was not only unsought, but
was unwelcome. Those of us who are
cooks know that the first dish after a
new recipe Is generally spoiled; that we
have to keep on trying, and when we
have nearly given up at last the dish is
] savory and perfect.
The prima donna must run the scales
persistenty before she can sing an aria.
The effective administration OF anes-
thesias must be as nicely done as the
balancing OF delicate machinery But,
whatever the undertaking. we must not
faint within sight OF the promised land
Once all doctors said that motherhood
and physical agony must go hand in
hand through the world Now most ply
sicians say so. But few are reaching
J toward the light. Lequex, the French
physician, has spoken with the delicacy
OF his tongue.
He renouneed the doctrine OF despair
ana with infinite care spoke a message
of hope,
/ There is hope" said he. that by the
most cautious clinical studies a means
will be reached OF depriving motherhood
Of its fear and pain"
That is what the women ask OF tn,
) doetors-hope, and that they keep on try
ing. gift for woman is a vision o
better things. And they are impatient
as impatient as Napoleon at a foolish
adjective, when they hear OF anythinl
good and greatly desired. 1T can't b,
done"