5. More rarely bimanual massage (see Appendix C) is used to isolate pressure on the uterus. Occasionally, in the first trimester, the heel of a foot is used to raise the uterus by pressing the heel into the area below the vagina. When bimanual massage is used, fingers placed against the cervix should be very clean and nails trimmed, and should be held still while the opposite hand applies pressure and force in circular movements.
6. Massaging in the uterine area is thought to sometimes bring up past psychological issues, as some believe trauma is stored in muscle memory.[506]
7. Massage is ceased when vaginal bleeding is observed.
…hot baths… can cause miscarriage, especially during the first three months.
-Mary Lillian Reed in The Mothercraft Manual, 1921.
Hyperthermia is a condition where the body absorbs more heat than it can dissipate. The intentional use of heated objects to induce abortion by increasing the temperature and circulation of the uterus is widespread. In Southeast Asia, women are documented as having utilized a heated coconut shell or rock to lie on top of to cause an abortion.[507] Native Americans of the Yurok tribe are documented as using hot stones on the abdomen to induce abortion.[508] The Buin, of Papua New Guinea, are also documented as using hot stones to induce abortion.[509] The women of the Manja of the Congo were known to induce abortion by making a big fire and, when the earth was very hot, cleaning away the fireplace, sprinkling the earth with water and lying down on their belly on the hot steaming earth.[510]
The use of hot water baths has a long history as an abortive method. Soranus (AD 98-138) prescribed an abortive regime that included hot baths, which became more protracted as the woman moved into the second trimester of pregnancy.[511] In the mid 1800’s, a method of hydrotherapy abortion inserted a tube into the vagina in order to apply a warm, strong, pressured douche to the uterus twice a day. The method was said to be “safe and efficient.”[512] More commonly in the 20th century was ‘a steaming hot bath and a bottle of gin,’ a folk recipe for inducing miscarriage which has been handed down via word of mouth to the modern-day.[513]
In early pregnancy if a woman gets an infection and develops a fever increasing her body temperature, often a spontaneous abortion will occur, as increased heat has a teratogenic effect on the growing fetus.[514] Hyperthermia was found to be a teratogenic element in many animals, and its link as a teratogen in humans was researched and confirmed.[515]
Modern studies have found an association between hot tub use and increased risk of miscarriage in early pregnancy.[516] The miscarriage rate has been shown to increase with frequent use of a hot tub in the first four weeks of pregnancy and with higher water temperature settings. Studies on elevated body temperature during pregnancy have shown a possible association between extended hot tub, bath, or sauna use during the first six weeks of pregnancy and neural tube defects and miscarriage.[517] If the temperature of the body is raised to above 101˚ F (38˚C) for an extended period of time during the first six weeks of pregnancy there is a significantly higher chance of miscarriage or neural tube defects in the baby if the pregnancy is brought to term.[518]
Words to the Wise: Monitor body temperature with a thermometer. Women with diabetes, anemia, tuberculosis, cancer, weakness, heart disease, or kidney damage should not use hyperthermia as a method of abortion. Utilizing hyperthermia as a means to induce abortion entails the rare risk of scalds, burns, brain damage, and death. Body temperatures above 104ºF (40ºC) are life threatening. At 106ºF (41ºC), brain damage begins. Hyperthermia during pregnancy is a known teratogen.
To utilize hot baths as part of an abortive regime, set the temperature of the bath to 102˚ F (39˚C) and stay in the bath for at least twenty minutes. The longer a woman can keep her body temperature elevated above 102˚F, the greater the chance that the woman will have an abortion.
Rocks may be heated for 30 minutes in a 140˚F (60˚C) oven or water bath. Place a towel on the belly, and place the wet hot rock on the towel, allowing the heat to slowly penetrate into the abdomen. Laying on the hot rock intensifies the temperature. If using the rock for direct massage on the skin, apply olive oil (and perhaps a drop of essential oil) to the rock before massage.
Psychic
The first experiences of connecting will often be visceral in nature – the parents-to-be will know, feel, or sense something which will be difficult to put into words. They will know that it is true in their bodies, not in their heads. After validation of that experience they will start to see colors or hear words.
-Teresa Robertson, Birth Intuitive
Throughout human history, nearly all traditional societies recognized the existence of entities that had no defined physical form. One of Ayurveda’s medicinal branches, Bhuta-vidya, was devoted to the science of spiritual entities. In traditional Chinese medicine, the word kuei (meaning discarnate spirit) makes up part of the secondary name of at least seventeen acupuncture points, evidence of the ancient belief that spirit is vitality important in the health and well-being of the body. Ancient Egypt had one of the most advanced medical systems of the time, however spells and incantations are believed to have been regarded by the ancient Egyptians as an even more effective means of medical treatment on all levels of being: mind, body, and spirit.
Ancient cultures are documented as having believed to have utilized psychic abortion to induce miscarriage, however the anthropological record is limited. The Hopi Native Americans are documented to have believed that a girl could induce abortion by simply wishing it to happen.[519] Magic being used to induce abortion is hinted at by a female Native American Aleut, however when questioned further she refused to speak about it and would talk only about basketry.[520] The Native American Mohave claimed that witchcraft could be used to affect abortion without the woman’s knowledge.[521] George Devereux’s extensive anthropological work on abortion indicates that many cultures utilized religious or magical rituals in combination with herbs and massage to induce abortion.[522]
Modern accounts of psychically induced abortion come from women who believe to have self-induced psychically and through psychics who have assisted in the process of inducing abortion.
One woman writes:
I didn’t want a baby, in fact didn’t want kids at all, but I wanted him. I didn’t want to be pregnant. I didn’t want to have to be dealing with it! What kind of idiot was I, getting pregnant again?
506
Diane McDonald, “Touching the Core: The Heart and Intelligence of Mayan Abdominal Massage,”
507
Gunnar Landtman,
508
A. L. Kroeber,
511
Soranus,
512
Walter S. Wells and William Braithwaite,
513
Gin contains juniper oils, which give the alcohol its distinctive flavor. (see Juniper).
514
John M. Graham Jr., “Marshall J. Edwards: Discoverer of Maternal Hyperthermia as a Teratogen,”
515
John M. Graham, Matthew J. Edwards, and Marshall J. Edwards, “Teratogen Update: Gestational Effects of Meternal Hyperthermia Due to Febrile Illness and Resultant Patterns of Defects in Humans,”
516
De-Kun Li, Teresa Janevic, Roxana Odouli, and Liyan Liu, “Hot Tub Use during Pregnancy and the Risk of Miscarriage,”
517
M.A.S. Harvey, et al., “Suggested Limits to the Use of Hot Tub and Sauna by Pregnant Women,”
518
M.J. Edwards, et al., “Hyperthermia and Birth Defects,”
519
Earnest and Pearl Beaglehole,
520
C.I. Shade, “Ethnological Notes on the Aleuts,” manuscript submitted in accordance to degree requirements of AB with distinction, Harvard University Department of Anthropology, 1949, As cited in: George Devereux,
521
George Devereux, “Mohave Indian Infanticide,”
522
George Devereux,