﻿364 MUSURAVE AND RICHMOND. 



good, fresh milk, and the other, the lack of satisfactory literature bear- 

 ing upon the subject. So far as we are aware, there is not a book or 

 exhaustive article which deals with the problem of infant feeding in 

 countries where a supply of fresh milk is lacking and where, in addition, 

 the ability of mothers to nurse their offspring is reduced to a minimum 

 for reasons which we will discuss below. 



II. HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE. 

 A. THE NATIVE MOTHER. 



The habits and customs of the people deserve a passing notice if we 

 consider that the feeding of the child begins with conception. A par- 

 turient native woman is generally a happy one, proud of her condition, 

 and she as a rule continues her regular habits and vocation during the 

 period of her gestation. The diet during this time is of the usual 

 variety, which contains an excess of carbohydrates. 



Confinement, particularly among the poorer class of people, is of a 

 very primitive type. In Manila, over 50 per cent of the children are 

 born without medical attendance, usually with the aid of a midwife 

 whose presence often does more harm than good. Mechanical assistance 

 is afforded to the mother by passing a rope or folded sheet around the 

 body just above the fundus, whereupon one or more friends pull upon 

 the ends. The bad results to both mother and child following this and 

 many other even more dangerous procedures, need no discussion here. 



B. THE NATIVE CHILD. 



The native child usually has the best attention which its mother can 

 afford and which she knows how to administer, but the density of the 

 ignorance and even of the superstition which exists among the uneducated 

 classes is remarkable, and in addition, generations of self-medication 

 have resulted in the extensive adoption of customs which are of the most 

 pernicious type, often maintained with a persistence which seems culpable 

 and vicious in the face of gratuitous enlightenment. 



Breast feeding is probably attempted in almost every case, but the per- 

 centage of exclusively breast-fed children is certainly much smaller than it 

 is in many other countries. This is due to several causes among which may 

 be mentioned infections, injuries to the mother at childbirth and, most 

 important of all, the lack of sufficient and proper food for the mother 

 during the puerperum; we also must remember that the hereditary in- 

 fiuences of generations of artificial feeding are always present to con- 

 tend with. The average Filipino woman is poorly developed, and even 

 those who have borne several children usually have small breasts, so that 

 the milk-giving capacity is at a minimum. The conditions which have 

 been outlined and many others, bring about the necessity of instituting 

 artificial food for breast milk in infant feeding to an extent, and at an 



