Chapter 14: Difficult Labor

Among the nearby villages, there were only three formal midwives: Midwife Feng, Midwife Wang, and Midwife Li.

Because of Midwife Feng's widespread reputation, she and Midwife Wang were often summoned to the capital or distant places to deliver babies, while Midwife Li mostly handled deliveries within these few villages. If she became overwhelmed, older women with experience in childbirth would step in to assist.

A woman asked Feng Chuchen, "Has your Midwife Wang not returned yet?"

Feng Chuchen shook her head. "No."

A woman in her forties came running from the west side of the village, her face full of excitement.

"I heard Jinniu's wife is carrying a 'debt-collector.' Since Midwife Li isn't around, I'm going to help with the delivery."

She wanted to earn this money.

The so-called "debt-collector" referred to a child that caused a difficult labor, implying the child had come to collect a debt from the mother.

Someone remarked, "Auntie Huo, Jinniu's wife is having a hard labor; she's been struggling for a long time and can't deliver. Can you handle it?"

Auntie Huo replied, "I've given birth to four cubs, I've delivered my two daughters-in-law's babies, and I've even delivered my own sows. I've also seen midwives handle difficult labors, so I know what to do."

She then pulled out a clump of hair and said proudly, "I collect hair in my spare time. If all else fails, I'll make her eat this."

The sunlight made the hair look greasy and shiny, coated in dust.

Feng Chuchen felt a wave of nausea. Auntie Wang also liked using hair to induce labor, but she would wash the collected hair thoroughly clean.

Another stout woman said, "You can't do it alone. I'm strong and know how to support the waist; I'll go help too."

Supporting the waist meant holding the laboring woman's hips.

The two of them ran toward the Jiang family home.

Feng Chuchen knew that in ancient times, women gave birth either upright or lying down, with the vast majority choosing the upright position.

Upright birth included sitting, standing, kneeling, or squatting.

This method required two assistants: one to deliver the baby and one to hold the mother's waist from behind.

The person supporting the waist was crucial; they had to be experienced and strong to prevent the mother from tilting, ensuring the fetus could be born smoothly.

To the ancients, upright birth was seen as more advantageous than lying down. Due to gravity, the cervix dilated faster, the pressure on the mother's lower back was reduced, the pain was lessened, and the chances of a difficult labor were significantly decreased.

Among upright positions, sitting was the most common as it saved the mother's strength.

If it was a first pregnancy or if the mother was weak and facing a difficult labor, standing was better. In this position, besides someone holding her waist, the mother would also need to grab onto ropes or wooden poles hanging from the ceiling beams.

A professional midwife would prepare several essential items: a large basin, scissors, cloths, and a small scale.

The large basin was for receiving the baby, the cloths were for wiping the mother's body, the scissors were for cutting the umbilical cord, and the small scale was for weighing the infant.

They would also prepare items for difficult labors, such as labor-inducing medicines, hair, or rolling pins.

Only Midwife Feng would not prepare hair or rolling pins; instead, she would bring an incense stick, three needles, and a small incense burner.

If a midwife encountered a difficult labor, the first step was to administer labor-inducing medicine and wipe the mother's lower body with warm water to promote progress.

If these failed, most midwives would have the mother eat hair, aiming to cause severe stomach discomfort and vomiting to increase abdominal pressure and "squeeze" the baby out.

If the fetus still wouldn't come out, or if the mother had no strength left to push, they would use a rolling pin to press and roll over her abdomen.

None of these were truly effective; midwives could only rely on their own wits and various "miraculous" methods.

If they encountered a breech or transverse birth, they would have to push the protruding hands or feet back into the body and then find a way to correct the fetal position, which tested a midwife's experience even further...

There were also unhygienic midwives or temporary assistants who didn't disinfect their scissors in boiling water. If they lacked scissors, they would use other sharp objects or even their teeth to bite through the umbilical cord, causing infections in both the mother and the infant...

The ancients said that giving birth was like taking a walk before the King of Hell, and they were not wrong.

If a family was too poor to hire a midwife and had no specialized basin for the baby, they could only give birth on the grass.

The ancient term for giving birth, "luo cao" (falling onto the grass), originated from this.

Giving birth in a basin was called "lin pen" (approaching the basin), a term that has persisted into modern times, also used generally to refer to being in labor.

The original owner of this body had many memories regarding childbirth—some she had witnessed personally, and others she had heard explained by her eldest aunt and Auntie Wang.

In her previous life, Feng Chuchen had read in books about how women in olden times gave birth, and even in the rural areas of the 1950s, it was still like this. Having experienced it firsthand after transmigrating, she felt a profound sense of sympathy for ancient women.

When an ancient woman encountered a difficult labor, even a professional midwife would struggle, let alone an untrained person.

One could only leave it to fate.

Several people shook their heads and sighed, "Sigh, Jinniu's wife has bad luck. If Midwife Feng were still alive, she could have handled even the hardest case."

"True. My daughter-in-law has a small pelvis; I was originally thinking of hiring Midwife Feng. How could she just die?"

Feng Chuchen had interned in obstetrics in her previous life, but she had no confidence that she could handle a difficult labor in an ancient setting without any medical instruments. Furthermore, in this era, unmarried girls were not allowed to assist in deliveries; even if she had the heart to save lives, it would be impossible for her to help.

The siblings arrived at Wang Dazhu's house.

Wang Dazhu's wife knew how to raise sheep. By selling lambs from her ewes, she could earn a decent living, and their life was quite good.

Precisely because Auntie Wang had this skill and was capable, her difficult and sharp-tongued mother-in-law, Old Lady Wang, did not dare to bully her too much.

Hearing their purpose, Auntie Wang smiled and said, "No money needed. None of us like drinking goat milk; it has such a gamey smell."

Feng Chuchen smiled and said, "Goat milk is good for the body. I will buy some for my brother to drink often in the future. It wouldn't be right to take it for free."

Auntie Wang accepted three copper coins. She hadn't expected that goat milk with such a strong smell could actually earn some money for the family.

She smiled again and said, "In the future, as long as my ewes have milk, I'll send a bowl to your house every day so you don't have to keep running all the way here."

She had three ewes that gave birth at different times, meaning she had goat milk to sell for most of the year.

"Alright, thank you, Auntie Wang."

A large bowl could be split into two servings—one in the morning and one at night.

Fearing that Feng Buqi would be unwilling to drink it, Feng Chuchen said, "Goat milk doesn't taste very good. In the future, I'll buy some jasmine tea to boil with it; it helps remove the gamey smell."

Feng Buqi said, "No matter how gamey it is, it tastes better than bitter medicinal soup. There's no need to spend extra money on tea."

He had already spent a lot of the family's money on his medical treatments and was unwilling to spend more just to mask a smell.

Wang Dazhu's mother, Old Lady Wang, came walking from the Jiang house, grumbling and cursing.

Feng Buqi was a polite child and greeted her, "Grandma Wang."

Old Lady Wang ignored him, spat outside the courtyard, and cursed, "I gave birth to eleven cubs. Aside from hiring a midwife for Dazhu, the other children were like passing farts—they just fell out as soon as I pushed.

"There was even one I didn't catch; it ended up in the chamber pot when she went to urinate. Dazhu's birth was easy too; what a waste of money hiring a midwife. These women are far too delicate, screaming at the top of their lungs as if they're the only ones who lay eggs.

"Is it really that painful? Is it really that painful? If it were my daughter-in-law, I'd shut that filthy mouth of hers. What a disgrace..."