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My Return to Bottle Ranting
Monday, October 22, 2007
Oh, how long has it been seen I posted a picture to rant about? A long time! I haven't, though, forgotten about how much it disturbs me that during the Depression era the vast majority of infants were fed with formula. So, I thought I'd revisit the travesty of mass formula feeding during the 30s and 40s.
Here is a picture of a friend of a mother who is taking care of the mom's baby while she dances at a farm worker's camp in February 1942.
And here is a mother and baby in Greenbelt, Maryland with the ubiquitous baby bottle, of course in September 1938.
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection, Reproduction Numbers: LC-USF34-071688-D DLC, LC-USF33-030008-M219
Labels: breastfeeding history
posted by Jennifer James @ 3:03 PM,
6 Comments:
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At October 22, 2007 7:26 PM,
Radical Catholic Mom said...
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I think you are missing something, Jennifer. I think the reason women chose to bottle feed their babies is because it was easier for them. Note, the first picture you show is a friend caring for the baby so the mother can dance. The mother wouldn't be dancing if she was nursing her baby.
It is the same reason women are willing to pump their bodies full of artificial hormones by using the hormonal contraception. It is a lot easier in the short term to use it for family planning than NFP.
Of course, there are many unintended consequences to both, right? -
At October 23, 2007 12:43 AM,
Pixie LaRouge said...
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My grandmother really, REALLY wanted to breastfeed my mother. However, the nurses only brought the baby to her every FOUR HOURS to feed. And she was stuck in the hospital for four weeks. She was alone. My grandad had been sent to fight in the Pacific during her pregnancy; her parents were several towns away. There was no one to advocate for her. She had been taught not to question doctors. Afterall, doctors were in the process of curing horrible diseases! They couldn't be wrong!
My mother didn't grow (surprise) and was given formula. When Grandmother and Mom made it home, there was no more milk to give the baby and no money for formula. So it was Caro syrup and Pet milk. When the next three kids came along, bottles were "normal," and "her body couldn't make enough milk."
She now knows what those doctors and nurses took away from her. She regrets what she "did to" her children. She was also my biggest supporter in nursing, from before my first daughter's birth. What I find to be the worst is that women of her age "know better" now, but women of younger years keep making the same mistakes and listening to the same dumb advice. -
At October 25, 2007 3:09 AM,
Theda K. said...
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Hi! I just found your blog, and what a wonderful niche. Wish I'd thought of it.
Anyway, I'm a Black mother of a now 2year-4month girl, and I breastfeed. I've been preaching the pros of breastfeeding to new Black mothers I know, but strangely, none have really tried long. I wonder if I'm preaching too hard. Then again, I was schooled by another Black mother, and that's what helped me when times got rough.
Sad, I think. I love knowing that as long as I'm with my daughter she won't be hungry or thirsty.
Anyway, I'll be subscribing to your blog and I look forward to reading all of your older posts. -
At October 25, 2007 3:13 AM,
Theda K. said...
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My link to my website didn't work in the last comment. So I'll add this one to say that I don't really get how much easier it is to formula feed. But, then again, I didn't try it.
I have to admit that I did pump milk and bottle feed during night nursings, which were tough.
Maybe, as advocates, we could tell new mothers to try that technique for when they need a break or need a feeding to go faster.
And tell them about slings, so they can still dance with their babies (I didn't try that either...wonder if that would've worked). :) -
At October 26, 2007 7:34 AM,
said...
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Just a quick comment--baby Tylenol is not the same as the OTC Dextromethorphan products that have recently been taken off the shelves. Tylenol, or acetominiphen, has commonly been prescribed for breastfeeding mothers and to baby boys within a few days old to help aleviate pain from circumcisions. It is also used pediatrically to aleviate pain from immunizations and to reduce fever. The majority of the time, there are no adverse health effects from using Acetominaphen in children, provided that it is used UNDER A PHYSICIAN/HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL'S SUPERVISION.
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At October 27, 2007 9:51 AM,
Mama Bear said...
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You know what concerns me about the article you linked to re: the Cold and Cough syrup? That baby was only four months old, and the doctor recommended that he be given that medicine... Do you think that baby was breastfed? Do you think that if that baby was breastfed, that it was appropriate for the doctor to prescribe that? I mean, the BEST thing for a sick baby is breastmilk, and nothing else. Cold and Cough syrups just mask symptoms; they don't cure the disease, whereas breastmilk would actually help the baby CURE itself... It's so sad. How many of these deaths would be prevented if doctors would instead support and encourage women to breastfeed instead of pushing drugs and formula???
Here's another thought: if the baby wasn't breastfed, why didn't the doctor instead prescribe breastmilk from a milk bank? Maybe because it's pasteurized it doesn't have as many immunities as fresh breastmilk, but it's still a hell of a lot healthier than formula, and just having a healthier switch in diet would have helped the baby cure itself heaps more than introducing a potentially dangerous Cold & Cough syrup drug...
This is just more evidence that our society is SO backwards... Our priorities are SO messed up.
