Mother’s Milk. Deficiency is almost unknown, but a foster mother is usually ready to supply the needful in such a case.
When the infant dies, or is still-born, the breasts are emptied by the mother or an older child and allowed to dry up as soon as possible. No herbs are used specially for that purpose.
Pregnancies. Dr. Casalis gives some useful statistics on this subject amongst the Basutos.
100 women, chosen hap-hazard, had 490 children, 215 boys, 275 girls, of which 330 were alive and 160 dead.
Of the 100 women, 30 had from 8–9 children; 62 had from 3–6; and 7 from 1–2.
Six had twins, and only one was sterile, but as many as 45 had aborted at one time or another during her child-bearing period. And he remarks “The relative frequency of girls to boys is not abnormal; nor is the number of pregnancies unusually large, in fact one would [[106]]expect a larger amongst savages, were it not for the fact that here a mother suckles her babe for two years, and so usually avoids pregnancy for that period. The Sesuto have a proverb, ‘Many babes spoil the womb.’”
Sterility, is extremely rare and a great disgrace to Mosuto woman, who will do anything rather than be considered sterile.
The general practice of Kaffir tribes is to send the sterile wife back to her father if she prove sterile after a fair trial; and to demand back the “lobola” i.e. her cost price.
Twins are not looked upon with favour although if they be females they are welcomed.
In this connection, one must remember that the female is the labourer, and when she marries, her father receives several head of cattle as “lobola,” or purchase price of his daughter: hence their welcome.