How a woman knows when she is pregnant

Frequently, the first clue to pregnancy is the enlarging of the breasts. The nipples become larger or pigmented, that is, darker in colour, and tiny new blood vessels form on the breasts. There may be new sensations of tingling and fullness.

Another early symptom may be an overpowering drowsiness, which is not related to fatigue but is a simple, acute sleepiness. Some women awaken early in the morning. Others feel suddenly dizzy. There may be an increased desire to urinate, with pressure in the bladder.

The best-known sign of pregnancy is a missed menstrual period. However, menstruation is sometimes delayed or absent for reasons other than pregnancy, and in rare instances women menstruate for several months after conception. The presence or absence of menstruation is therefore not absolutely reliable as an indication.

How the doctor knows when a woman is pregnant

In making an early diagnosis of pregnancy, the doctor is guided by the symptoms that his patient describes to him. His training will enable him to evaluate some of them better than she can.

At about the tenth week, the doctor’s examination enables him to detect pregnancy with a fair degree of accuracy. By pressing the abdomen in the proper place, he can feel the slight enlargement caused by the swollen uterus. The tissues at the entrance to the vagina have a bluish hue. If the fingers are inserted into the vagina, the cervix, or mouth of the uterus, can be felt, and it is definitely softer than it was in the non-pregnant state.

You can be absolutely certain of pregnancy at the middle of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth month. An X-ray will reveal the baby’s bones; its movements can be felt, and its heartbeat detected.

Laboratory tests

Tests have been devised that make it possible to determine pregnancy, in at least 95 per cent of all cases, within two weeks after the first missed menstrual period. Your doctor or any hospital can recommend a laboratory that performs these tests.

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Get your doctor’s permission to swim if you have been ill recently or are suffering from a chronic ailment.

Anyone in good health should know how to swim. Drowning ranks third among leading fatal accidents. Never take foolish risks.

The following are further suggestions:

First of all, find out whether or not the water you plan to swim in is polluted. You should feel free to ask the local council about the pools and beaches in its area.

Do not go into the water immediately after meals or when overheated or tired from exercise. Always come out before you get tired or chilly.

On a long swim, have someone row along beside you, or go with another good swimmer. Unless you both know lifesaving methods, swim parallel to shore or within rescue distance.

No matter how well you swim, stay very close to shore if you are swimming in an isolated spot.

Do not attempt a long swim on the first few days of the season. Your swimming muscles have lost their strength through the winter. Give them time to get strong again.

Before diving in a new place, test the water for depth and hidden logs or rocks. Do not risk a broken neck.

If you have trouble with your sinuses or ears, give up diving and underwater swimming. Water in the nose washes away protective secretions that help prevent infection. In addition, infections can wash into the sinuses through the nose or reach the middle ear through the Eustachian passage from the throat.

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A most important source of eyestrain is in our eyes themselves. A large number of us are short-sighted, long-sighted, or astigmatic. These conditions are caused by the shape of the eyeball.

Strabismus (also called cross-eyes and squint) is caused by an imbalance of the muscles of the eyes. Babies are apt to be cross-eyed, but they should begin to lose this tendency by the time they are three months old. Do not put off consulting a doctor if your child is crosseyed. His vision may be impaired unless he is given glasses. Sometimes these will correct the condition, but occasionally a fairly simple surgical operation is necessary.

Fortunately, short-sightedness, long-sightedness, and astigmatism are readily corrected by wearing the proper glasses. Even if your eyes have always been perfect, they tend to change as you get older, and they are then unable to adjust to anything close at hand. That is why you should have your eyes examined as soon as you find yourself holding things off at a distance in order to see them, or notice that you cannot see as well as you used to in a poor light. Always have an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) examine your eyes and prescribe the proper lenses. If an ophthalmologist is not available, an optometrist can examine your eyes and prescribe glasses, if they are needed.

For those who feel that ordinary glasses are a handicap, contact lenses should be discussed with an ophthalmologist.

It is most unwise to try to avoid wearing glasses by spending hours on various systems of exercises that have not as yet been scientifically proved effective. Exercising the eyes can help under some circumstances; in themselves, the exercises usually do no harm. Their main dangers are that they may be used when poor vision is due to some eye disease such as glaucoma; and that people who use the exercises fail to go to an ophthalmologist who might, in his examination, discover some illness that first reveals itself in the eyes. For example, popeyes—eyes that are prominent and staring—may mean an over-active thyroid gland that, unless corrected, may lead to serious damage of the heart.

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