The married woman's private medical companion

by A. M. Mauriceau

Many are in the habit of pouring down various liquids and mixtures made of rich substances, and so much sweetened that the tender organs of digestion are impaired, and acidity and bowel diseases follow; articles of this nature should be avoided: no food, except the milk of the mother, should be given, unless absolutely necessary; nature has designated this liquid exclusively for the nourishment of the infant, and, indeed, we may say, for children.

There is another precaution to be observed, which is, “never to put an infant to a wet-nurse if it can possibly be avoided;” such persons are generally strangers, and they often communicate the most loathsome and fatal diseases; besides, their milk is often rendered unwholesome by age or other causes: this is a very unnatural practice.

The milk of the mother, then, should constitute the only food of the infant, except in cases of disease, when it becomes necessary to obtain a wet-nurse, or bring up the children on the bottle, which can be done very easily.

We attended a lady who was almost covered with a herpetic complaint, or the salt rheum, and that, too, when her child was born. She was treated and cured her of the complaint. The infant was fed on milk, by introducing a silver tube into a bottle containing it.

We never knew a child so quiet and free from pain; as much so as any offspring of the brute creation, which are free from it merely by following nature or instinct, which never errs. The milk should be of the best quality, and, if possible, of the same cow.

Now, it appears to us, that if females imitated these animals, were to live on vegetable instead of animal food, and drink nothing but water, they would not only bring forth as easy as the Indians or these animals, but their offspring would be free from pain, and perhaps be as exempt from sickness. Would not this course produce a revolution in our habits, health, and in the practice of medicine? In the present diseased state of society it might require a long time to bring about a change in the system; but an immediate benefit would follow by adopting these physiological principles. Do not these facts open a new field of investigation and improvement?

Is it not notorious that some infants are crying a great portion of their time in consequence of pain? and is it natural, or can there be any other cause, except the poison communicated to it, through the medium of the blood, before and after it is born; or the disease may proceed from the impurity of the mother’s milk, occasioned by errors in diet? It is self-evident that it is so, from the fact that animals are free from these symptoms.

Can there be any other cause why so many children are in distress from birth, and generally die young, or continue weak and sickly all their lives? There must be a reformation in the habits, taste, and education of modern females. Many mothers are as ignorant, when they have brought a child into the world, of what is to be done for it as the infant itself.

Says Combe: “The leading error in the rearing of the young, I must again repeat, is over-feeding, an error serious in itself, but which may easily be avoided by the parent yielding only to the indications of appetite, and administering food slowly and in small quantities at a time. By no other means can the colics, and bowel-complaints, and irritability of the nervous system, so common in infancy, be effectually prevented, and strength and healthy nutrition be secured. Nature never meant the infant stomach to be converted into a receptacle for laxatives, carminatives, antacids, spicy stimulants and astringents; and when these become necessary, we may rest assured that there is something faulty in our management, however perfect it may seem to ourselves. The only exception is where the child is defectively constituted, and then, of course, it may fail to thrive under the best measures which can be advised for its relief.

“Another cause of infantile indigestion, and which is too much overlooked through ignorance of its importance, is vitiation of the quality of the milk, caused by imprudence, neglect, or anxiety on the part of the mother. The extent to which this cause operates in inducing irritation and suffering in the child, is not generally understood; and, accordingly, it is not unusual for mothers to display as much indifference to health, regimen, and tranquillity of mind during nursing, as if the milky secretion, and all other bodily functions, were independent of every external and corporeal influence. Healthy, nourishing, and digestible milk can proceed only from a healthy and well-constituted parent; and it is against nature to expect that, if the mother impairs her health and digestion by improper diet, neglect of exercise, impure air, or unruly passions, she can, nevertheless, provide a wholesome and uncontaminated fluid, as if she were exemplary in her observance of all the laws of health.