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In cases where labor is difficult during pregnancy, it is generally due to a diet rich in sweet and fatty foods, a lifestyle indulging in comfort and ease, and lying down immediately after eating. This leads to the fetus becoming overly plump and heavy, causing shortness of breath upon movement, thereby resulting in dystocia (difficult childbirth) at term. It is advisable to engage in frequent physical activity when the fetus is nearing full term, to curb cravings for rich and fresh foods, to avoid excessive sitting or lying down, and to walk diligently. This constitutes an excellent method for facilitating smooth delivery without medication. However, contemporary physicians all believe that after administering fetal-securing prescriptions, one must further administer fetal-slipping prescriptions to ensure no defects. Little do they know that the term "fetal-slipping" was originally devised by ancients for Princess Huyang. This was because nobles lived in luxury and ease, with obese bodies, and there was genuine concern that accumulated body fat might congeal and make the uterine membranes firm; thus, this prescription was used merely to slightly alleviate such stagnation caused by excess. If we consider ordinary women, whose maternal Qi and Blood are already divided to nourish the fetus, often worrying about insufficiency, how can one use fetal-thinning [Qi-consuming] herbs?

For fetal crying within the abdomen, decoct Rhizoma Coptidis (Huanglian, 黄连) juice and sip/swallow it. Qingdai (Indigo Naturalis, 青黛) is also effective.
For fetal sounds resembling bell ringing or crying within the abdomen, use soil from rat holes in long-abandoned empty houses, grind into powder, and either take with wine or hold dry in the mouth to stop the symptoms.
For cases of Zang Dryness (Zang Zao, 脏燥) manifesting as profound sadness, grief, vomiting, and bleeding, decoct Hordeum Vulgare Fructus (Damai, 大麦), Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata (Gancao, 甘草), and Fructus Jujubae (Dazao, 大枣) for oral administration.
For spontaneous crying and laughing, roast Ziziphus Jujuba Mill. var. spinosa (Hongzao, 红枣) until charred but retaining internal properties (Cinnabaris Vegetabilis-like state), and administer with Rice Decoction (Miyin, 米饮).
Various prescriptions for pregnant women suffering from smallpox or measles are already recorded in Volume 21, Department of Smallpox Diseases.

Whenever a pregnant woman approaches her term, select auspicious days blessed by Tiande (Heavenly Virtue) and Yuede (Monthly Virtue). Have a skilled calligrapher observe a three-day fast and purification beforehand. On the day, draw fresh water, grind cinnabar on yellow paper, burn incense, and write: "Borrow ten steps East, borrow ten steps West, borrow ten steps South, borrow ten steps North, borrow ten steps Up, borrow ten steps Down. Within the square area of the wall, forty-plus steps, borrow land for safe delivery. If there be filth, or if there be the Divine King of the East Sea, or the Divine King of the South Sea, or the Divine King of the West Sea, or the Divine King of the North Sea, or the Day-Wandering General, Lady Baihu (White Tiger), please depart ten zhang away; Xuan Yuan and Zha Yao stars, please rise ten zhang high; Tian Fu and Di Zhou, please enter ten zhang underground, making the earth vacant. Let the parturient woman, Surname [Name], reside safely in childbirth, without obstruction, without taboo, protected by all deities, let all evils depart swiftly. Urgently as the law commands." After writing, paste it on the wall near the pregnant woman, and no taboos need be avoided.