Ann

Rather than try to answer a very complex question which is even more complex
to answer because generalisation is difficult, I'd like to refer you to some
books based on thorough research.  They may go some way to answering the
part of your question about "why" women gave other foods and/or weaned
early, but keep in mind that they deal with specific places and times.  They
are not necessarily generalisable to other places and times, nor may they be
generalisable to other regions within the same country as from time to time
there have been divergences between city/rural, good education/poor
education, high income/low income, and these factors have sometimes had
different associations at different times.  Jacqui Wolf's work is
particularly well worth reading as she develops a different perspective from
other authors, based on good research and impeccable reasoning.  She shows
that it was mothers were turning to cow's milk feeding in the last quarter
of the 19th century.  She also shows how, and why, public health measures
backfired in regard to increasing breastfeeding rates. (I won't spoil it for
you by summarising as she writes so well.)  Her insights have certainly set
me looking at my primary sources without the usual preconceptions.  To start
you on your reading, I'd suggest:

Wolf, Jacqueline H. Don't kill your baby: Public health and the decline of
breastfeeding in the 19th and 20th centuries. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State
University Press, 2001. [About Chicago.]

Golden, Janet. A social history of wet nursing in America: From breast to
bottle. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 2001.

Fildes, Valerie. Breasts, bottles and babies: A history of infant feeding.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1986.  [See chapter on artificial
feeding, pp. 262-292, for *why* women fed their babies artificially.  The
chapter that follows looks at medical opinions.]

Apple, Rima D. Mothers and medicine: A social history of infant feeding
1890-1950. Madison: university of Wisconsin Press, 1987. [Very good coverage
of the growth of artificial feeding and the manufacture of artificial baby
milks.]

There are also histories of commercial entities, e.g. Glaxo, which marketed
artificila baby milk in England, New Zealand, and Australia, and later
elsewhere (by Davenport-Hines & Slinn), and the Australian company,
Arnott's, which promoted milk arrowroot biscuits as a baby food (by Charles
Boag).

I'm currently completing a PhD thesis on influences on 20th-century
Australian mothers' infant feeding decisions, and still have some analysis
to do before I can share an overview.  However, Ann, I agree with you that
commercial interests (some of which began in the 19th century) were very
skilled at playing on mothers' existing fears and preoccupations, and at
building on existing community practices that were in their interest.

Virginia
Virginia Thorley, OAM, MA, IBCLC
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
email: [log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~
On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 Ann Perry wrote:

> After reading the interesting post from Rachel on infant feeding history
in
> Iceland and Norway, along with a great talk I heard yesterday at a
conference
> by  Anne Merewood on the history of infant formula, I have a couple of
> pondering  questions.
> Why do women not want to breastfeed their children?  Now, I am talking
about
> the past when I asked this question not the modern day mother.   According
to
> history, women having been trying to give their babies other food  and
drink
> besides breast milk long before any formula companies were  developed.
> Certainly these companies took an advantage of a trend they  observed and
then
> pushed it even more.  But why did women look to not give  their own milk,
or any
> human milk to their babies when it is readily there and  so nurturing?
> Maybe someone with an anthropology background or sociology may help me
> understand this.
> I wonder if the human, who thinks about their world and questions it
verses
> just flowing with instinctual traits, messes us up?
> Ann Perry, RN IBCLC
> Boston, MA
>

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