Review of the Literature on Infant Feeding for 1924

Abstract

Richardson 1 has proved by statistics that the breast-fed baby has five times the chance for life and health as the artificially fed infant. He believes that every mother, when given intelligent instruction, can nurse her baby indefinitely, providing the breasts are emptied regularly at alternate feedings. The best means of stimulating secretion is by nursing or by rhythmic expression of the milk by the thumb and forefinger, applied just back of the nipple. This procedure should immediately follow the cessation of the nursing. Another method is the use of the breast pump. He finds that laboratory examinations of breast milk are useless unless a twenty-four hour specimen is taken. The so called colic in breast-fed infants is often a hunger symptom, which may be verified by putting the child back on the breast. Eructations of gas during the nursing are caused by air which has filled the stomach previous to the milk. Vomiting may be caused by the automatic return of excess milk, by an air bubble, or by some external physical factor, such as a tight band or sudden jolting.Among the numerous causes for disappearance of breast milk are sudden grief, shock, reappearance of menstruation, severe diarrhea, or physical exhaustion with loss of sleep and weight.Chapin 2 believes that the greatest effort for breast feeding should be made during the first month of life. Important factors in lessening infant mortality are prenatal supervision, natal care, more breast feed¬ ing, baby health stations, improvement in the production of cow's milk, and visiting nurses. The artificially fed infant more frequently develops signs of malnutrition than the breast fed, even if the secre¬ tion is poor.