physicians term a "pendulous abdomen." Such a condition can be
prevented by the use of several appliances, and the device best
suited to the case should be chosen. Those who have never become
accustomed to corsets will probably find a corset-waist or an
abdominal supporter the most comfortable and useful. But the average
young woman who has previously employed a sensible, well made, and
loosely fitting corset need make no change until the third or fourth
month of pregnancy. From then on she should wear a corset especially
designed to conform with the changes that naturally occur in the
figure.

There is a plan, wrong in principle, which many adopt. Reasoning that
it will be necessary to change the corset from time to time, and
desiring to practice economy, a number of women purchase the cheapest
corset at hand. This they replace with a larger one of the same style
from time to time. The result is that an improperly fitting garment
is worn continuously; and, in the end, this plan proves almost as
expensive as, and far less suitable than, a proper corset, which
would remain serviceable throughout pregnancy, or at least until a
few weeks before confinement.

Most, and probably all, of the injuries for which corsets are
responsible result from their misuse. Naturally serious consequences
may be expected if they are worn with the design of compressing the
abdomen so as to render pregnancy less noticeable or perhaps to
conceal it altogether. Thus worn, the corset becomes not only an
instrument of torture but a source of danger both to the mother and
to the child. Fortunately there are very few women who fail to
appreciate the risk of thus striving to disguise their condition; and
generally it is the needless discomfort, the trifling ills