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CHAPTER V

_Of Natural Labour; What it is and what the Midwife is to do in
such Labour._


SECTION I.--_What Natural Labour is._

There are four things which denominate a woman's natural labour; the
first is, that it be at the full time, for if a woman comes before her
time, it cannot be termed natural labour, neither will it be so easy as
though she had completed her nine months. The second thing is, that it
be speedy, and without any ill accident; for when the time of her birth
come, nature is not dilatory in the bringing it forth, without some ill
accident intervene, which renders it unnatural.

The third is, that the child be alive; for all will grant, that the
being delivered of a dead child is very unnatural. The fourth is, that
the child come right, for if the position of the child in the womb be
contrary to that which is natural, the event will prove it so, by making
that which should be a time of life, the death both of the mother and
the child.

Having thus told you what I mean by natural labour, I shall next show