§77.
7.
Ἢν δὲ τὸ ἔμβρυον ἔνδον μένῃ τετελευτηκὸς καὶ μὴ δύνηται μήτε αὐτόματον μήτε διὰ φαρμάκων ἐκπεσεῖν κατὰ φύσιν, χρίσας τὴν χεῖρα κηρωτῇ, ἥτις ὀλισθητικὴ μάλιστα, ἔπειτα ἐνείρας ἐς τὴν μήτρην, διελεῖν τοὺς ὤμους ἀπὸ τοῦ τραχήλου ἐπερείσαντα τῷ μεγάλῳ δακτύλῳ· ἔχειν δὲ χρὴ πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ ὄνυχα ἐπὶ τῷ δακτύλῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ· καὶ διελόντα ἐξενεγκεῖν τὰς χεῖρας, ἔπειτα πάλιν ἐσείραντα τὴν κοιλίην ἀνασχίσαι, καὶ ἀνασχίσαντα ἡσυχῇ ἐξελεῖν τὰ ἐντοσθίδια, ἔπειτα ἐξελόντα συντρῖψαι τὰ πλευρία, ὅκως ξυμπεσὸν τὸ σωμάτιον εὐσταλέστερον γένηται καὶ ῥᾷον ἐξίῃ, μὴ ὀγκῶδες ἐόν.
If the fetus remains inside dead, and can neither come out spontaneously nor by means of drugs in accordance with nature, having smeared your hand with cerate, which is especially slippery, then having inserted it into the uterus, you must separate the shoulders from the neck, pressing with your thumb; and for such tasks one must also have a nail on the thumb; and having separated them, draw out the arms, then having inserted your hand again, rip open the abdomen, and having ripped it open, gently remove the viscera, then having removed them, crush the ribs, so that the little body, having collapsed, may become more compact and come out more easily, not being bulky.
§88.
8.
Τὸ δὲ χόριον ἢν μὴ ῥηϊδίως ἐκπίπτῃ, μάλιστα μὲν ἐᾷν πρὸς τὸ ἔμβρυον προσκέμασθαι, καὶ τὴν λεχὼ προσκαθῆσθαι ὥσπερ ἐπὶ λασάνου· ἔστω δὲ κατεσκευασμένον ὑψηλόν τι, ἵνα τὸ ἔμβρυον ἐκκρεμάμενον συνεπισπᾶται τῷ βάρει ἔξω· ἡσυχῇ δὲ τοῦτο ποιέειν, μὴ πρὸς βίην, ὅκως μὴ ἀποσπασθέν τι παρὰ φύσιν φλεγμονὴν ἐμποιήσῃ·
If the chorion does not fall out easily, it is best to let it remain attached to the fetus, and to have the woman in labor sit as if upon a commode; and let there be prepared something high, so that the fetus, hanging down, may draw it out together by its weight; and do this gently, not by force, so that nothing torn away unnaturally may cause inflammation.
ὑποκεῖσθαι οὖν δεῖ τῷ ἐμβρύῳ εἴρια ὡς ὀγκωδέστατα νεόξαντα, ἵνα κατὰ μικρὸν ἐνδιδοίη ἀσκία δύο ἐζευγμένα ὕδατος μεστά· ἐπάνω δὲ τῶν ἀσκίων εἴρια· ἐπάνω δὲ τούτων τὸ ἔμβρυον· ἔπειτα τρυπῆσαι ἑκάτερον τῶν ἀσκίων ῥαφίῳ, ὅκως ῥυῇ κατὰ σμικρὸν τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐκρέοντος δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐνδιδόασιν οἱ ἀσκοί· ἐνδιδόντων δὲ ἐπισπᾶται τὸ ἔμβρυον τὸν ὀμφαλὸν, ὁ δὲ ὀμφαλὸς ἐφέλκει τὸ χόριον.
Therefore, one must place under the fetus the fluffiest newly-carded wool, so that it may yield little by little: two joined skins full of water; and on top of the skins, wool; and on top of these, the fetus; then pierce each of the skins with a needle, so that the water may flow out little by little; and as the water flows out, the skins yield; and as they yield, the fetus draws the umbilical cord, and the cord pulls the chorion.
Ἢν δὲ μὴ δύνηται καθῆσθαι ἐπὶ τοῦ λασάνου, ἐπ’ ἀνακλίτου δίφρου τετρυπημένου καθήσθω.
But if she is unable to sit on the commode, let her sit on a reclining chair with a hole in it.
Ἢν δὲ ἀσθενέῃ τὸ σύνολον καθῆσθαι, τὴν κλίνην ὡς ὀρθοτάτην ἀπὸ τῶν πρὸς τῆς κεφαλῆς μερῶν ἀείραντας, ἵνα κάτω ῥέπῃ ὡς μάλιστα καὶ ξυνεπισπᾶται τὸ κάτω βάρος, ὑπὸ τὰς μασχάλας δῆσαι τὴν λεχὼ ἔξωθεν τῶν ἱματίων πρὸς τῇ κλίνῃ ἢ κηρίῃ ἢ ἱμάντι πλατεῖ καὶ μαλθακῷ, ὅκως μὴ ὀρθῆς ἐούσης τῆς κλίνης κάτω τὸ σῶμα φέρηται.
If she is entirely too weak to sit, lift the bed as upright as possible from the head end, so that it slopes downward as much as possible and the weight below draws it together, and bind the woman in labor under her armpits over her clothes to the bed with a band or a broad and soft leather strap, so that the body is not carried downward when the bed is upright.
Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον κἢν ἀποῤῥαγῇ ὁ ὀμφαλὸς, κἢν ἀποτάμῃ τις πρὸ τοῦ καιροῦ, βάρεα ξύμμετρα ἐκκρεμανῦντα, τὴν ἐξαγωγὴν τοῦ χορίου ποιέεσθαι· βελτίστη γὰρ αὕτη ἡ θεραπείη τῶν τοιῶνδε γίνεται καὶ ἥκιστα βλάπτει.
In the same way, even if the umbilical cord is torn off, or if someone cuts it before the proper time, you must effect the extraction of the chorion by hanging appropriate weights from it; for this treatment proves best for such cases and causes the least harm.
§99.
9.
Ἢν δέ τινι ἐναποθάνῃ τὸ παιδίον ἐν τῇ μήτρῃ καὶ μὴ ἐξέλθῃ, ὑγρῆς ἐούσης τῆς μήτρης καὶ μὴ ἐχούσης ἔτι τὸ ὑποκείμενον, ἀλλὰ ξηρανθῇ ἡ μήτρη, πρῶτον μὲν οἰδίσκεται αὐτό· ἔπειτα τήκεται καὶ σήπεται τὰς σάρκας, καὶ ῥέει θύρῃφι· ὕστατα δὲ τὰ ὀστέα χωρέει· καὶ ῥόος ἐνίοτε λαμβάνει, ἢν μὴ πρότερον ἀποθάνῃ.
If in any woman the child dies in the uterus and does not come out, the uterus being moist but no longer having the underlying substance, but the uterus dries up, first the child itself swells; then it melts and its flesh decays, and flows out of doors; and last of all the bones come away; and sometimes a discharge seizes her, unless she dies beforehand.
§1010.
10.
Ὁκόταν τὸ παιδίον ἐντεθνήκῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοισι τεκμαίρεσθαι σημηΐοις, καὶ κελεύειν τοτὲ μὲν ἐπὶ δεξιὰ κεῖσθαι, τοτὲ δὲ ἐπ’ ἀριστερὰ μεταβάλλειν· μεταπίπτει γὰρ ἐν τῇ μήτρῃ τὸ παιδίον ὁποτέρωθι ἂν καὶ ἡ γυνὴ, ὥσπερ λίθος ἢ ἄλλο τι, ἢν τεθνήκῃ, καὶ τὸ ἦτρον ψυχρὸν ἔχει· ἢν δὲ ζώῃ, τό τε ἦτρον θερμὸν ἔχει, καὶ ἡ μὲν γαστὴρ ὅλη μεταπίπτει τεταμένη μετὰ τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος, ἐν αὐτέῃ δὲ οὐδὲν μεταπίπτει χωρὶς τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος.
When the child is dead, one must judge by the other signs as well, and bid her lie sometimes on her right side, and sometimes change to her left; for the child, if it is dead, falls over in the uterus to whichever side the woman herself inclines, like a stone or something else, and she has her lower abdomen cold; but if it is alive, she has her lower abdomen warm, and the whole belly changes position tensely with the rest of the body, and in it nothing falls over apart from the rest of the body.
§1111.
11.
ᾟ τινι ἂν ὠδινούσῃ πρὸ τοῦ παιδίου ῥοὸς πολλὸς αἱματώδης γένηται ἀνώδυνος, κίνδυνος τὸ παιδίον τεθνηκὸς ἀπολυθῆναι, ἢ οὐ βιώσιμον γενέσθαι.
In any woman in labor, if before the child a copious bloody discharge occurs without pain, there is danger of the child being delivered dead, or not surviving.
§1212.
12.
Κυουσέων τῶν γυναικῶν ὁ στόμαχος τῶν πλείστων ἐγγὺς τυγχάνει ἐὼν πρὸ τοῦ τόκου.
In most pregnant women, the cervix happens to be near before delivery.
§1313.
13.
Κυέουσα ἡ γυνὴ, ἢν μὴ λαγνεύηται, ῥηΐτερον ἀπολυθήσεται τοῦ τόκου.
A pregnant woman, if she does not have sexual intercourse, will be delivered of her child more easily.
§1414.
14.
Ἡ τὰ δίδυμα κυέουσα τίκτει τῇ αὐτῇ ὡς καὶ συνέλαβεν· ἔχει δὲ ἑνὶ χορίῳ τὰ παιδία ἀμφότερα.
A woman pregnant with twins gives birth in the same way as she conceived; and she has both children in a single chorion.