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To the Editor:—This is in regard to the special communication "Adaptive Value of Labor Pains" by Ashley Montagu, Ph.D., which appeared in the March 17 issue of The Journal (179:887).Dr. Adolph Meyer has said that "What ails most people is not that they are ignorant, but that they know too much that isn't so."Having observed a large number of girls during labor and childbirth, I have become convinced of the truth of the observation that "pain" is subjective. Many of these girls have not experienced the so-called pangs or pains of labor. Many of them have remained quite relaxed and comfortable throughout labor and delivery. It is my belief that physicians, nurses, and others have unfortunately perpetuated the misconception that a natural and normal process such as childbirth must be accompanied by "the severest kind of pains."Apes, baboons, and marmosets notwithstanding, I hope that physicians |
