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(Not diagnosing other diseases within the first month)

The *Qianjin Fang* (Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold) states: When an infant leaves the womb, the flesh and bones have not yet consolidated, and the muscles are not yet formed; the body is still largely composed of blood. When the blood coagulates, it solidifies to form muscle tissue. It also says: [An infant's body] is like a bubble on water or dew on grass—fragile. Within the first week after birth, can the evil qi of the eight winds from heaven and earth cause harm so quickly? This is primarily because during gestation, the mother failed to provide proper care, or fatigue caused interference between qi and blood, or improper sitting and lying postures, irregular hunger and fullness, served as burdens on the body. Consuming alcohol and meat, or conflicting cold and hot dietary elements, along with fear, fright, or falls, caused chaos in the blood vessels. Toxins accumulated internally, damaging the fetal qi. Consequently, after birth, conditions such as fetal heat, fetal cold, fetal obesity, fetal weakness, fetal fright, and fetal jaundice arise. Additionally, external factors such as improper methods for bathing, wiping the mouth, cutting the umbilical cord, or moxibustion on the fontanelle, or fright caused by tight swaddling, or inappropriate temperature regulation during breastfeeding, lead to conditions such as trismus (lockjaw), neonatal tetanus (umbilical wind), abdominal locking (constipation), and refusal to suckle. Patients suffering from these conditions are difficult to treat; one can only watch them die, which is truly pitiable. Therefore, Huangdi said, "I cannot fully examine the young, considering them a category requiring separate management." Physicians using herbs must understand how to observe changes in symptoms, determine prognosis regarding life and death, assess the depth of the patient's condition, and know the cold and warm properties of medicines, so that errors may be minimized.

The *Qianjin Fang* records: If an infant dies immediately upon birth, inspect the area above the anterior aspect of the uvula in the infant's mouth for the presence of a vesicle (The *Qianjin Yifang* [Supplement to Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold] describes this as a red vesicle; use fingernails to pinch the head of the vesicle, puncture it to drain the blood, ensuring the blood does not enter the throat, as entering the throat will kill the infant. Be extremely cautious.)

The *San Yin Ji Bing Zheng Fang Lun* (Treatise on Causes and Manifestations of All Diseases) states: If a newborn has weak breath and cannot cry, it is certainly due to dystocia (difficult labor) or exposure to cold. Immediately wrap the infant in cotton wadding and hold them against your chest. Do not cut the umbilical cord yet. Instead, burn the placenta in a charcoal brazier. Then, twist a large paper strip, dip it in oil, light it, and smoke the area below the umbilical cord. Since the cord connects to the infant, the fire's qi enters the abdomen through the umbilicus. Subsequently, wash the umbilical cord with hot vinegar water. After a moment, when the breath returns and crying resumes normally, bathing may proceed. Afterward, cut the umbilical cord. For infants with delayed crying, gently whip the back with white parts of green onions, and they will cry. The *Shuijian Fang* (Water Mirror Formulas) states: For inability to cry at birth due to fetal wind, gather small-leaf hibiscus from the garden, crush it to extract juice, mix with bear gallbladder powder, and administer orally; this prevents imminent danger. See the method for inspecting under the tongue mentioned earlier. If an infant does not cry upon touching the ground, cannot swallow milk, and appears nearly dead, urgently inspect the area above the uvula in the throat for a blister. Puncture it with a fingernail, wipe away the bad blood with cloth, ensuring it is not swallowed, and the infant will be able to vocalize and swallow milk.