Historical Changes in Patterns of Breast feeding

Abstract

It is often assumed that before the twentieth century most children were breast fed by their mothers. However, this view is not substantiated by research into methods of infant feeding in pre industrial Europe and America. The practice of (maternal) breast feeding, and attitudes about it, varied according to social class, religion, regional custom, climate and nationality (Fildes, 1986b). We shall deal first with the question of differences in feeding according to the class and status in society of the parents. The upper and educated classes have left diaries, memoires, letters, and other written evidence about their married life and that of their children so that their method and rationale of infant feeding is well documented, (Stone, 1977 Pollock, 1983).KeywordsBreast FeedingInfant FeedingBirth IntervalHistorical ChangeMarital FertilityThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.