In a message dated 99-02-03 08:36:41 EST, Nikki Lee wrote:
<< So I guess the potential is vast. Remember those laws
that I have heard attributed to West Virginia and to Great Britain, that one
was not permitted to wet nurse more than 6 babies per day? >>
Nikki's wonderful anecdote about the mom nursing 4 kids is a good indication
of how many kids one really could bf at once -- and not too long ago there was
discussion on the list about some exclusively bf quads if I am not mistaken.
But this thing about the law on wet nurses is NOT evidence for this. It was
intended to prevent poor women from signing up to "wet nurse" more babies than
they ever truly intended to bf exclusively. Instead they "dry nursed" them
-- fed them pap, or various worse substances -- and those babies DIED LIKE
FLIES. THAT is why is was prohibited -- because the money was an incentive
to abuse the babies. So I don't think we want to wave this one as our flag!
Elisheva Urbas
whose husband used to be an historian of britain at one brief academic time in
his life