ABSTRACT
The accurate diagnosis of pregnancy was until very recently a most intractable problem. The problem was particularly pressing where the woman was on trial for her life, and where she was thought to be in need of medical treatment, such as bleeding in the foot, which would be contraindicated by pregnancy. Many of the old signs and tests were still being trotted out in Aristotle's masterpiece; these signs included fullness and milk in the breasts; strange longings and depraved appetites; veins under the tongue being greenish; veins in the neck swollen; the cervix tightly closed; and many others. The regimen to be followed once pregnancy was diagnosed was based on the right use of the classical six 'non-naturals', air, food and drink, exercise and rest, sleep and waking, fullness and emptiness, and passions of the mind. The correction of disorders if they arose was also necessary, and professional ante-natal care was virtually limited to this.
