travail

See: disaster, endeavor, hardship, labor, strive

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TRAVAIL. The act of child-bearing.
     2. A woman is said to be in her travail from the time the pains of child-bearing commence until her delivery. 5 Pick. 63; 6 Greenl. R. 460.
     3. In some states, to render the mother of a bastard child a competent witness in the prosecution of the alleged father, she must have accused him of being the father during the time of her travail. 2 Root, R. 490; 1 Root, R. 107; 2 Mass. R. 443; 5 Mass. R. 518; 8 Greenl. R. 163; 3 N. H. Rep. 135; 6 Greenl. R. 460. But in Connecticut, when the state prosecutes, the mother is competent, although she did not accuse the father during her travail. 1 Day, R. 278.