250 THE POSSIBILITIES OF MATERNAL NURSING 



mer diarrhoea, and other gastro-intestinal disorders; but the 

 public at least do not appreciate that a host of deaths ascribed 

 to pneumonia, convulsions, diphtheria, measles, whooping- 

 cough, suppurative affections and, in fact, nearly the whole 

 gamut of infantile diseases take place because these infants 

 lack the stamina and recuperative power possessed in much 

 greater degree by infants who have been nourished at the 

 breast. These deaths are rarely traced to the really important 

 contributory cause. Add to this mortality in infancy the starved 

 bodies, the stunted development, the narrow rachitic chests, the 

 anaemia and disturbed digestions which the less fortunate of the 

 survivors carry with them into childhood, and it becomes ap- 

 parent that the morbidity of bottle feeding must play some part 

 in the mortality of later years also. 



Nevertheless, artificial feeding is on the increase and breast 

 feeding is decreasing. Two factors more than others contribute 

 to this popularity of artificial feeding. The first of these is the 

 progress made in the improvement of the milk supply, and more 

 especially in the methods of its preparation for bottle feeding. 

 Both have been of undoubted service in lessening infant mor- 

 bidity and mortality where the use of cows' milk was impera- 

 tive, but we should not overlook the fact that in many quarters 

 this popularization has created an unwarranted confidence in 

 their use. This has taken the form of a belief that an infant 

 may be as satisfactorily and as safely fed upon the bottle as 

 upon the breast. 



Still more unfortunate in its bearing upon maternal nursing 

 has been the influence of the so-called "infant foods." Valu- 

 able as some of these are when limited to their proper sphere 

 as aids in the feeding of infants who cannot be nursed, 

 and granting that by their use infants who have previously been 

 ignorantly or injudiciously fed are at times enabled to make 

 better progress, we regret that the commercial exploiters of 

 such products have not hesitated in their literature and adver- 

 tisements to create the impression that such feeding equals, or 

 even exceeds, the value of breast milk. When hundreds of 

 thousands of dollars have been spent in promoting the use of 

 infant foods and scarce as many mills in promoting the knowl- 

 edge of the value of breast milk, it is not surprising that the 

 same public which buys a soap, a baking powder, or a breakfast 

 food on the strength of lavish advertising will come to believe 

 that some particular infant food possesses almost miraculous 

 properties and guarantees to the infant health and development 

 not surpassed by maternal nursing. 



Although much has been accomplished of late years in the 

 scientific adaptation of cows' milk and artificial food products 



