Dr. Joseph Feghali, member of the Scientific Academy of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Paris, has kindly favored “The Woman's Voice” with his series of talks on “Childbirth Without Pain and Without Anesthesia or Narcosis.” As we begin publishing the first installment we offer our sincere thanks to Dr. Feghali; and let readers await the continuation of his valuable study in the coming issues...
I made a pledge to myself to set forth my theory of “childbirth without pain and without recourse to narcosis or anesthesia” in a series of talks that will throw light on the obscurities of this question and pluck from the mother's heart the terror and dread that generations, traditions, and environment have imposed upon her. It is no secret that this grave subject occupied the brains of thinkers, great scientists, and philosophers for many centuries, and that it is a perilous ground and a riddle hard to solve; but my resolve did not weaken, nor did I retreat before the difficulties, great as they were, for I have devoted myself to serving the mother — a sincere and disinterested service — to lighten her pains and provide her the means of comfort and happiness, paving the roads and smoothing the rough paths
before her so that she may cut for herself in life a broad way, far from the anxieties and delusions that have accompanied her down the generations. The time has come for her to be freed from bondage to the superstitions that have ruled her since antiquity, and to have recourse to modern science and enlightened thought, so as to see things in their actual truth, not as she imagines them under her psychological influences — those influences which we shall take as the subject of our coming talks, making plain their evils and their harms and striving our utmost to destroy them by way of reason and persuasion.
This subject of mine is drawn from personal experience of no less than thirty years, saturated with study and scrutiny, and joined to the precise information I gathered in the course of my journeys to the capitals of Europe, thanks to delightful discussions and debates with the world's masters of medicine, the professors of obstetrics and gynecology — especially on one of my journeys to Great Britain, where fortune favored me with meeting one of its great professors, in whose head the very same idea was fermenting. We conferred at length and exchanged views; I took and I gave, and my idea was polished, crystallized, and ripened. Here I am now, proceeding to expound and clarify it, hoping to reach the desired goal.
My mind goes back to an incident I witnessed at the beginning of my medical career — an incident I have never forgotten, for it left a deep mark on my soul, helped to set my direction, and
drove me along this path confident and enthusiastic. I was called one night to deliver a woman at her home, a nurse accompanying me — delivery in hospital being at that time rare and unwelcome. On my arrival, the lady approaching her delivery greeted me with these words: “Forgive me, doctor, for calling you out on this cold and rainy night; I feel nothing but a slight discomfort, perhaps caused by a chill in the bowels, with no connection to childbirth; but since I am a first-time mother without experience, and have reached the last days of my pregnancy, I made bold to trouble you, that you might guide me to what should be done.” But the medical examination showed me that she was in labor and had gone a long way (the neck of her womb was on the point of full dilation); so I put her in her bed, prepared what was needed, and left the nurse at her side, to summon me when the pain grew severe. I went to one of the rooms to rest a little until the time for work should come; but I had scarcely closed my eyes when the nurse's voice rang in my ears, calling me in haste. I responded quickly, and my astonishment was great when I saw that the child had already seen the light. I scolded the nurse and rebuked her for her negligence in not summoning me when the strong, driving labor began; but the lady answered me with a gentle smile: “The nurse, sir, is not at fault; I felt nothing but something suddenly pushing outward, without troubling pain, so I alerted her to it and she summoned you at once.” I said to her: “Is it possible that you gave