Page:Contraception; 1st ed. (IA in.ernet.dli.2015.94163).pdf/149

Cold water, of course, is sufficient in itself to plasmolyse motile spermatozoa.

In General.—To the douche in any form in addition to the objections mentioned above, there is the very important psychological objection that both for the man and the woman the use of the douche interrupts seriously the sequence of the completed coital act. If the woman gets up to douche immediately after the coital act (when relaxation and profound rest are demanded) this prevents her natural relaxation and sleep. The processes of the douche coming at this time demand energy, and the sordid procedure of the woman getting up, moving about the room, and so on, have a psychologically destructive effect on both of the married participants in the act. This tends so much to reduce the value of the coital act that in many cases it becomes abhorrent to one or other of the pair. I know cases of husbands who prefer to go to prostitutes rather than have coitus with their wives followed by the objectionable douching after the act.

In addition to this there is in the ordinary home, when coitus is conducted late at night (as is very usual), very considerable risk of the woman catching an ordinary cold or giving herself an internal chill.