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(1) Tuberculosis, latent or active, affecting the mother. By nurs- 
ing the child she can but accelerate the progress of the disease besides 
exposing the child to the danger of contracting it. 
(2) When the mother is affected by grave, chronic, or systemic 
disease. 
(3) When the mother is choreic or epileptic. 
(4) If she has suffered from any severe complication of the partur- 
ient state such as hemorrhage, eclampsia, nephritis, puerperal septi- 
caemia, and the like. 
(5) Local disease of -the mammary gland. 
(6) When as the result of two previous experiences under favorable 
conditions she has shown her inability to nurse her child (Holt). 
(7) When no milk is secreted. 
Care of the breasts during lactation. — In order to prevent local af- 
fections both of the mammary gland and the infant’s mouth, it is 
highly important that particular attention should be paid to cleanli- 
ness. The nipples and breasts should, therefore, be carefully washed 
prior and subsequent to nursing, either with plain water or boric-acid 
solution. 
Nursing during childbed. — A newborn child should be nursed once 
in six hours the day following delivery and once in four hours the 
succeeding day. This is necessary (1) to accustom the child to take 
and the mother to give the breast, (2) to empty the breasts of colos- 
trum, (3) to promote the involution of the uterus. 
The colostrum furnishes the child with all the calories necessary 
to its needs until the lacteal flow is established, nor does it need any 
other food. The usual practice of feeding a newborn child with de- 
coctions of various sorts with the object of alleviating the colic sup- 
posedly indicated by its cries is absolutely to be prohibited. The cry- 
ing promotes the full expansion of the lungs and the establishment of 
normal circulation. Plain boiled water, however, may be freely 
given, as the body fluids of the newborn are in a concentrated state. 
Regular habits of nursing. — Much more is dependent upon the 
early establishment of regular nursing habits than is supposed. 
They are as easy to initiate as the irregular, and by so doing much of 
the strain of lactation upon the mother can be eliminated. This is 
highly desirable in view of the beneficial effect a calm and equable 
state of mind and adequate time for rest and sleep have upon the 
lacteal secretion. Moreover, the milk is more likely to be of a uni- 
form character throughout lactation when the breasts are drawn 
upon at intervals definitely spaced. A young infant can usually 
be expected to take a long nap of some four or five hours during 
some period of the twenty-four, and it is just as easy to have this se- 
cured at night. In order to promote the uniformity of lacteal secre- 
