Breastfeeding Benefits & Barriers: The History of Breastfeeding

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The History of Breastfeeding

Infants have been breast-fed since the beginning of humanity. Only in the 20th century have reasonable alternatives to breastfeeding become available.
Alternatives to breastfeeding include:
1. Modified mammalian milk
  (cow's milk based formula became available only in the 20th century).
2. Unmodified mammalian milk (such as cows milk or goat milk) can cause metabolic problems in the young infant.
3. Grain or legume based beverages
  1. soy milk based formula (only available recently).
  2. other gruels based on carbohydrates are usually low in fat and protein and do not support adequate infant growth.
4. Wet nurse - a woman who nurses another's baby:
  1. many upper class women hired wet nurses during various periods of history.
  2. infants orphaned due to maternal death have been wet-nursed.
  3. women worked as wet nurses for pay.
Inability to keep non-human milk clean led to very high infant mortality rates until the 20th century. This is still true in many parts of the developing world.


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