Some mothers do not
have enough milk to feed the baby. Nearly all who live properly give
enough milk to nourish their infants at first. If there is not enough
milk, the child should be allowed to take what there is in the breasts
and this should be supplemented with cow's milk.
Dr. Thomas F. Harrington said recently:
"From 80 to 90 per cent. of all deaths from gastrointestinal disease
among infants takes place in the artificially fed; or ten bottle-babies
die to one which is breast-fed. In institutions it has been found that
the death rate is frequently from 90 to 100 per cent. when babies are
separated from their mothers. During the siege of Paris (1870-71) the
women were compelled to nurse their own babies on account of the absence
of cow's milk. Infant mortality under one year fell from 33 to 7 per
cent. During the cotton famine of 1860 women were not at work in the
mills. They nursed their babies and one-half of the infant mortality
disappeared."
These are remarkable facts and bring home at least two truths. First,
they confirm the superiority of natural feeding over that of artificial
feeding. Second, they show that when the mother is not overfed the
infants are healthier.
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