Though injuries of the child during labor are not frequent, probably they are much less rare than commonly believed. In many instances they are recognized immediately after delivery, and they may spontaneously disappear, and in some their consequences are attributed to erroneous causes.
Some of these lesions may happen in spontaneous labor, and others in artificial, whether the interference be manual or instrumental. It is impossible to classify them according to their causes, and apparently the most satisfactory division is one resting upon the regions or parts affected. Hence, in the paper now presented, injuries to the fœtus in labor will be divided into those involving the head and neck, those of the trunk, and finally, those of the extremities.
Injuries of the Head and Neck.—Contused wounds of the scalp and of the face, and incised, punctured, and lacerated wounds of the former are met with. So far as contused