this lovely gem was sent to another list i am on from off of the web somewhere. i thought in light of the formula, homemade formula, wet-nursing discussion it may be of some interest. > Advice on hiring a wet-nurse. Rome, 1st century. A.D. (Soranus, Gynaecology > 2.18-20. Tr. O. Temkin. L) > > A physician's advice; > > > (18) ... To be sure, other things being equal, it is better to feed the > child with maternal milk, for this is more suited to it, and the mothers > become more sympathetic towards the offspring, and it is more natural to be > fed from the mother after parturition just as before parturition. But if > anything prevents it one must choose the best wet-nurse, lest the mother > grows prematurely old, having spent herself through the daily suckling.[1] > ... > > (19) One should choose a wet-nurse not younger than twenty nor older than > forty years, who has already given birth twice or thrice, who is healthy, of > good constitution, of large frame, and of a good colour. Her breasts should > be of medium size, lax, soft and unwrinkled, the nipples neither big nor too > small and neither too compact nor too porous and discharging milk > overabundantly. She should be self-controlled, sympathetic and not > ill-tempered, a Greek, and tidy. And for each of these points the reasons > are as follows: > > She should be in her prime because younger women are ignorant in the rearing > of children and their minds are still somewhat careless and childish; while > older ones yield a more watery milk because of the atony of the body. In > women in their prime, however, every natural function is at its highest. She > should already have given birth twice or thrice, because women with their > first child are as yet unpractised in the rearing of children and have > breasts whose structure is still infantile, small and too compact; while > those who have delivered often have nursed children often and, being > wrinkled, produce thick milk which is not at its best. > > [She should be healthy because healthful] and nourishing milk comes from a > healthy body, unwholesome and worthless milk from a sickly one; just as > water which flows through worthless soil is itself rendered worthless, > spoiled by the qualities of its basin. And she should be of good > constitution, that is, fleshy and strong, not only for the same reason, but > also lest she easily become too weak for hard work and nightly duties with > the result that the milk also deteriorates. Of large frame: for everything > else being equal, milk from large bodies is more nourishing. Of a good > colour: for in such women bigger vessels carry the material up to the > breasts so that there is more milk. And her breasts should be of medium > size: for small ones have little milk, whereas excessively large ones have > more than is necessary so that if after nursing the surplus is retained it > will be drawn out by the newborn when no longer fresh, and in some way > already spoiled. If, on the other hand, it is all sucked out by other > children or even other animals, the wet-nurse will be completely exhausted > ... > > The wet-nurse should be self-controlled so as to abstain from coitus, > drinking, lewdness, and any other such pleasure and incontinence. For coitus > cools the affection towards the nursling by the diversion of sexual pleasure > and moreover spoils and diminishes the milk or suppresses it entirely by > stimulating menstrual catharsis through the uterus or by bringing about > conception. > > In regard to drinking, first the wet-nurse is harmed in soul as well as in > body and for this reason the milk also is spoiled. Secondly, seized by a > sleep from which she is hard to awaken, she leaves the newborn untended or > even falls down upon it in a dangerous way. Thirdly, too much wine passes > its quality to the milk and therefore the nursling becomes sluggish and > comatose and sometimes even afflicted with tremor, apoplexy, and > convulsions, just as suckling pigs become comatose and stupefied when the > sow has eaten drugs. > > [She should be] sympathetic and affectionate, that she may fulfil her duties > without hesitation and without murmuring. For some wet-nurses are so lacking > in sympathy towards the nursling that they not only pay no heed when it > cries for a long time, but do not even arrange its position when it lies > still; rather, they leave it in one position so that often because of the > pressure the sinewy parts suffer and consequently become numb and bad. Not > ill-tempered: since by nature the nursling becomes similar to the nurse and > accordingly grows sullen if the nurse is ill-tempered, but of mild > disposition if she is even-tempered. Besides, angry women are like maniacs > and sometimes when the newborn cries from fear and they are unable to > restrain it, they let it drop from their hands or overturn it dangerously. > For the same reason the wet-nurse should not be superstitious and prone to > ecstatic states so that she may not expose the infant to danger when led > astray by fallacious reasoning, sometimes even trembling like mad. And the > wet nurse should be tidy-minded lest the odour of the swaddling clothes > cause the child's stomach to become weak and it lie awake on account of > itching or suffer some ulceration subsequently. And she should be a Greek so > that the infant nursed by her may become accustomed to the best speech. > > (20) At the most she should have had milk for two or three months. For very > early milk, as we have said, is thick of particles and is hard to digest, > while late milk is not nutritious, and is thin. But some people say that a > woman who is going to feed a male must have given birth to a male, if a > female, on the other hand, to a female. One should pay no heed to these > people, for they do not consider that mothers of twins, the one being male > and the other female, feed both with one and the same milk. And in general, > each kind of animal makes use of the same nourishment, male as well as > female; and this is [no] reason at all for the male to become more feminine > or for the female to become more masculine. One should, on the other hand, > provide several wet-nurses for children who are to be nursed safely and > successfully. For it is precarious for the nursling to become accustomed to > one nurse who might become ill or die, and then, because of the change of > milk, the child sometimes suffers from the strange milk and is distressed, > while sometimes it rejects it altogether and succumbs to hunger. > -- Monique Noah 6/97, Melissa 6/23/00 [log in to unmask] The same phrase describes my marriage and my breasts: before the kids, they used to be such a cute couple. Amy Krouse Rosenthall *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html