Jennifer said, "No question that MDs are such a
problem . . . has anybody read "Don't kill
Your Baby" by Jacqueline Wolf? It describes the
transition from a breastfeeding to bottle-feeding
culture in Chicago during the turn of the century. In
the process it describes the "birth" of the pediatrics
(which occurred here). The chapter on the MILK (not
formula) industry is highly revealing about business
and health priorities."

I hope Jacqueline (Jackie?) is here to further this
discussion.  I read the aforementioned book at her
suggestion and felt a great sense of frustration and
despair.  Those early pedy's *knew* that breastmilk
was the food mothers should be giving their babies-
they had made many accurate observations about the
short term and long term health effects of not
breastfeeding on the mothers and the children.  But-
they were beating their head against brick walls in
their efforts to get mothers to keep breastfeeding.
Mothers were bottle feeding their babies with
disasterous results.  Babies were dying- what was
saving them?  Human Milk.  Milk banks were set up at
the turn of the century in order to provide milk for
these babies.  Physicians would spend hours searching
for a wet nurse for their sick patients.  (although
the treatment of wetnurses was horrendous.)

My despair came from understanding that women were
seeking alternatives to breastfeeding *before* there
was an alternative.  WHY?  That question wasn't
satisfactorily addressed, other than social reasons
(women wanted to entertain), they had to work or
lactation was misunderstood (and therefore failed).
Because cow's milk was used for these babies, it was
essential that the milk supply be protected and
cleaned up.  Women were feeding milk from drunk cows,
milk that was adultrated with chalk and thinned with
water- ugh.  Milk was shipped unrefrigerated and
untested, in large, common, unclean vats.  Public
Health officials were in the difficult spot of trying
to get women to keep breastfeeding through the second
summer, but also realising that women weren't, so a
clean, but clearly inferior substitute was necessary.

Yes, "artificial milk" was coined by these physicians
and it was a *derogatory* term.  Society women were
railed against for not mothering properly.  Older
sisters often had to be trained to clean and protect
their little siblings artificial milk in order so they
may *survive*!

I am very happy to not be living in a Victorian urban
environment, struggling to protect the very health of
children.  We tend to romanticise the turn of the last
century, but with bias that shows a lack of
understanding.  Read "The Fall and Rise of Susan
Lenox" by David Graham Phillips; my eyes were opened
to read of the complete and utter lack of opportunity
many families had to suffer through.

=====
Kate Hallberg,  http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina/advantages-of-formula.html  Mom to Ursula (8), Sage (5.5) and Benno (2!)   Hey, Colorado mamas!-   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColoradoThriftyMamas/

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