History of breastfeeding
Encyclopedia
Breastfeeding
is the feeding of breastmilk to a child directly from mouth to breast contact.
Various substitutes for breast milk
have been introduced around the world, most notably infant formula
.
In the Egyptian
, Greek
and Roman empire
s, women usually fed only their own children. However, breastfeeding began to be seen as something too common to be done by royalty, and wet nurse
s were employed to breastfeed the children of the royal families. This was extended over the ages, particularly in western Europe, where noble women
often made use of wet nurses. The Moche
artisans of Peru (1–800 A.D.) represented women breastfeeding their children in ceramic vessels.
Shared breastfeeding is still practised in many developing countries when mothers need help to feed their children.
According to some Brahmin
ical literature, breastfeeding was practised in 2nd century India
only after the fifth day, allowing the colostrum
to be discarded and the true breast milk to flow.
and breastfed with the help of breast massage
. Weaning was often late, with breastfeeding in rare cases continuing until early adolescence. After World War II Western medicine was taken to Japan and the women began giving birth
in hospitals, where the baby was usually taken to the nursery and fed formula. In 1974 a new breastfeeding promotional campaign by the government helped to boost the awareness of its benefits and its prevalence has sharply increased. Japan became the first developed country to have a baby-friendly hospital
, and as of 2006 has another 24 such facilities.
Mother's milk was considered a miracle fluid which could cure people and give wisdom. The mythical figure Philosophia-Sapientia, the personification of wisdom, suckled philosophers at her breast and by this way they absorbed wisdom and moral virtue. On the other hand, lactation was what connected humans with animals. Linnaeus – who classified the realm of animals – did not by accident rename the category 'quadrupedia' (four footed) in 'mammalia' (mammals). With this act he made the lactating female breast the icon of this class of animals in which humans were classified.
Mother's milk was considered best for babies, but the quality of the breastmilk was found to be varied. The quality of breastmilk was considered good only if the mother had a good diet, had physical exercise and was mentally in balance. In Europe (especially in France) and less in the USA it was a practice among the higher and middle class to hire a wet nurse. If it was too difficult to find a wet nurse, people used formula to feed their babies, but this was considered very dangerous for the health and life of the baby.
A 2003 La Leche League International
study found that 72% of Canadian mothers initiate breastfeeding and that 31% continue to do so past four to five months.
A 1996 article in the Canadian Journal of Public Health found that, in Vancouver, 82.9% of mothers initiated breastfeeding, but that this differed by Caucasian (91.6%) and non-Caucasian (56.8%) women. Just 18.2% of mothers breastfeed at nine months; breastfeeding practices were significantly associated with the mothers' marital status, education and family income.
's constitution has contained a provision officially recognising and supporting breastfeeding. Article 68 of the 1975 constitution reads, in part:
During the six weeks immediately preceding childbirth and the six weeks following, a woman shall enjoy obligatory vacation from work on pay at the same rate, retaining her employment and all the rights pertaining to such employment and to her labour contract. During the nursing period, two extraordinary daily rest periods of a half hour each shall be allowed her to feed her child.
is the major cause of death in children under 5, with 50% of all those cases being within the first year of life. International organisations such as Plan International and La Leche League have helped to promote breastfeeding around the world, educating new mothers and helping the governments to develop strategies to increase the number of women exclusively breastfeeding.
Traditional beliefs in many developing countries give different advice to women raising their newborn child. In Ghana
babies are still frequently fed with tea alongside breastfeeding, reducing the benefits of breastfeeding and inhibiting the absorption of iron, important in the prevention of anaemia
.
The World Health Organization
(WHO), along with grassroots non-governmental organisations like the International Baby Food Action Network
(IBFAN) have played a large role in encouraging these governmental departments to promote breastfeeding. Under this advice they have developed national breastfeeding strategies, including the promotion of its benefits and attempts to encourage mothers, particularly those under the age of 25, to choose to feed their child with breast milk.
Government campaigns and strategies around the world include:
However, there has been a long, ongoing struggle between corporations promoting artificial substitutes and grassroots organisations and WHO promoting breastfeeding. The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
was developed in 1981 by WHO, but violations have been reported by organisations, including those networked in IBFAN. In particular, Nestlé
took three years before it initially implemented the code, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s was again found in violation. Nestlé had previously faced a boycott
, beginning in the U.S. but soon spreading through the rest of the world, for marketing practices in the third world (see Nestlé boycott
).
with her baby will often need to breastfeed her child. A baby's need to feed cannot be determined by a set schedule, so legal and social rules about indecent exposure
and dress code are often adapted to meet this need. Many laws around the world make public breastfeeding legal and disallow companies from prohibiting it in the workplace, but the reaction of some people to the sight of breastfeeding can make things uncomfortable for those involved. Some breastfeeding mothers feel reluctant to breastfeed in public.
appropriations bill (HR 2490) with a breastfeeding amendment was signed into law on September 29, 1999. It stipulated that no government funds may be used to enforce any prohibition on women breastfeeding their children in Federal buildings or on Federal property. Further, U.S. Public Law 106-58 Sec. 647 enacted in 1999, specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location." A majority of states have enacted state statutes specifically permitting the exposure of the female breast by women breastfeeding infants, or exempting such women from prosecution under applicable statutes, such as those regarding indecent exposure
.
Most, but not all, state law
s have affirmed the same right in their public places. By June 2006, 36 states had enacted legislation to protect breastfeeding mothers and their children. Laws protecting the right to nurse aim to change attitudes and promote increased incidence and duration of breastfeeding. Recent attempts to codify a child's right to nurse were unsuccessful in West Virginia
and other states. Breastfeeding in public is legal in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
In November 2006, Emily Gillette, a 27-year-old from Santa Fe, New Mexico
was refused service in Burlington, Vermont
after being asked to leave a Freedom Airlines
flight by a flight attendant after Gillette refused to breastfeed her child under a blanket.
, a bill safeguarding the freedom of women to breastfeed in public was passed in 2005 by the Scottish Parliament. The legislation allows for fines of up to £
2500 for preventing breastfeeding in legally permitted places.
gives some protection under sex equality. Although Canadian human rights protection does not explicitly include breastfeeding, a 1989 Supreme Court of Canada
decision (Brooks v. Safeway Canada
) set the precedent for pregnancy as a condition unique to women and that thus discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is a form of sex discrimination. Canadian legal precedent also allows women the right to bare their breasts, just as men may. In British Columbia
, the British Columbia Human Rights Commission Policy and Procedures Manual protects the rights of female workers who wish to breastfeed.
, resulting in the mother's arrest and the seizure of her children:
of Nineveh
—who died in 888 BC. Clay feeding vessels were found in graves with infants from the first to fifth centuries AD in Rome.
Valerie Fildes writes in her book Breasts, bottles and babies. A history of Infant Feeding about examples from the 9th to 15th centuries of children getting animal's milk. In the 17th and 18th century Icelandic babies got cow's milk with cream and butter.
In 1582, the Italian physician Geronimo Mercuriali
wrote in De morbis mulieribus (On the diseases of women) that women generally finished breastfeeding an infant exclusively after the third month and entirely around 13 months of age.
The feeding of flour or cereal mixed with broth
or water became the next alternative in the 19th century, but once again quickly faded. Around this time there became an obvious disparity in the feeding habits of those living in rural areas and those in urban areas. Most likely due to the availability of alternative foods, babies in urban areas were breastfed for a much shorter length of time, supplementing the feeds earlier than those in rural areas.
Though first developed by Henri Nestlé
in the 1860s, infant formula
received a huge boost during the post World War II Baby Boom
. When business and births decreased, and government strategies in industrialised countries attempted to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding, Nestlé
and other such companies focused their aggressive marketing campaigns on developing countries. In 1979 the International Baby Food Action Network
(IBFAN) was formed to help raise awareness of such practices as supplementary feeding of new babies with formula and the inappropriate promotion of baby formula, and to help change attitudes that discourage or inhibit mothers from breastfeeding their babies.
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
is the feeding of breastmilk to a child directly from mouth to breast contact.
Various substitutes for breast milk
Breast milk
Breast milk, more specifically human milk, is the milk produced by the breasts of a human female for her infant offspring...
have been introduced around the world, most notably infant formula
Infant formula
Infant formula is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding from powder or liquid . The U.S...
.
Early history
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
s, women usually fed only their own children. However, breastfeeding began to be seen as something too common to be done by royalty, and wet nurse
Wet nurse
A wet nurse is a woman who is used to breast feed and care for another's child. Wet nurses are used when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of...
s were employed to breastfeed the children of the royal families. This was extended over the ages, particularly in western Europe, where noble women
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
often made use of wet nurses. The Moche
Moche
'The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state...
artisans of Peru (1–800 A.D.) represented women breastfeeding their children in ceramic vessels.
Shared breastfeeding is still practised in many developing countries when mothers need help to feed their children.
India
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
ical literature, breastfeeding was practised in 2nd century India
History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
only after the fifth day, allowing the colostrum
Colostrum
Colostrum is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy. Most species will generate colostrum just prior to giving birth...
to be discarded and the true breast milk to flow.
Japan
Traditionally, Japanese women gave birth at homeHome birth
A home birth in developed countries is an attended or an unattended childbirth in a non-clinical setting, typically using natural childbirth methods, that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birth centre, and usually attended by a midwife or lay attendant with expertise in...
and breastfed with the help of breast massage
Massage
Massage is the manipulation of superficial and deeper layers of muscle and connective tissue to enhance function, aid in the healing process, and promote relaxation and well-being. The word comes from the French massage "friction of kneading", or from Arabic massa meaning "to touch, feel or handle"...
. Weaning was often late, with breastfeeding in rare cases continuing until early adolescence. After World War II Western medicine was taken to Japan and the women began giving birth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
in hospitals, where the baby was usually taken to the nursery and fed formula. In 1974 a new breastfeeding promotional campaign by the government helped to boost the awareness of its benefits and its prevalence has sharply increased. Japan became the first developed country to have a baby-friendly hospital
Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative , also known as “Baby Friendly Initiative” , is a worldwide programme of the World Health Organization and UNICEF, launched in 1991 following the adoption of the Innocenti Declaration on breastfeeding promotion in 1990...
, and as of 2006 has another 24 such facilities.
Eighteenth century
In the 18th century male medical practitioners started to work on the areas of pregnancy, birth and babies. These areas were traditionally dominated by women. Also in the 18th century the emerging natural sciences argued that women should stay at home to nurse and raise their children, like animals also do. Governments in Europe started to worry about the decline of the workforce because of the high mortality rates among newborns. Wet nursing was considered one of the main problems. Campaigns were launched against the custom among the higher class to use a wet nurse. Women were advised or even forced by law to nurse their own children. The biologist and physician Linnaeus, the English doctor Cadogan, Rousseau, and the midwife Anel le Rebours described in their writings the advantages and necessity of women breastfeeding their own children and discouraged the practice of wet nursing. In 1752 Linnaeus wrote a pamphlet against the use of a wet nurse. Linnaeus considered this against the law of nature. A baby not nursed by the mother was deprived of the laxative colostrum. Linnaeus thought that the lower class wet nurse ate too much fat, drank alcohol and had contagious (venereal) diseases, therefore producing lethal milk.Mother's milk was considered a miracle fluid which could cure people and give wisdom. The mythical figure Philosophia-Sapientia, the personification of wisdom, suckled philosophers at her breast and by this way they absorbed wisdom and moral virtue. On the other hand, lactation was what connected humans with animals. Linnaeus – who classified the realm of animals – did not by accident rename the category 'quadrupedia' (four footed) in 'mammalia' (mammals). With this act he made the lactating female breast the icon of this class of animals in which humans were classified.
Nineteenth century
Historian Rima D. Apple writes in her book Mothers and Medicine. A Social History of Infant Feeding, 1890–1950 that in the United States of America most babies got breastmilk. Dutch historian Van Eekelen researched the small amount of available evidence of breastfeeding practices in The Netherlands. Around 1860 in the Dutch province of Zeeland about 67% of babies were nursed, but there were big differences within the region. Women were obliged to nurse their babies: “Every mother ought to nurse her own child, if she is fit to do it (...) no woman is fit to have a child who is not fit to nurse it.”Mother's milk was considered best for babies, but the quality of the breastmilk was found to be varied. The quality of breastmilk was considered good only if the mother had a good diet, had physical exercise and was mentally in balance. In Europe (especially in France) and less in the USA it was a practice among the higher and middle class to hire a wet nurse. If it was too difficult to find a wet nurse, people used formula to feed their babies, but this was considered very dangerous for the health and life of the baby.
Canada
A 1994 Canadian government health survey found that 73% of Canadian mothers initiated breastfeeding, up from 38% in 1963. It has been speculated that the gap between breastfeeding generations in Canada contributes to the lack of success of those who do attempt it: new parents cannot look to older family members for help with breastfeeding since they are also ignorant on the topic. Western Canadians are more likely to breastfeed; just 53% of Atlantic province mothers breastfeed, compared to 87% in British Columbia. More than 90% of women surveyed said they breastfeed because it provides more benefits for the baby than does formula. Of women who did not breastfeed, 40% said formula feeding was easier (the most prevalent answer). Women who were older, more educated, had higher income, and were married were the most likely to breastfeed. Immigrant women were also more likely to breastfeed. About 40% of mothers who breastfeed do so for less than three months. Women were most likely to discontinue breastfeeding if they perceived themselves to have insufficient milk. However, among women who breastfed for more than three months, returning to work or a previous decision to stop at that time were the top reasons.A 2003 La Leche League International
La Leche League International
La Leche League International is an international nonprofit organization that distributes information on and promotes breastfeeding...
study found that 72% of Canadian mothers initiate breastfeeding and that 31% continue to do so past four to five months.
A 1996 article in the Canadian Journal of Public Health found that, in Vancouver, 82.9% of mothers initiated breastfeeding, but that this differed by Caucasian (91.6%) and non-Caucasian (56.8%) women. Just 18.2% of mothers breastfeed at nine months; breastfeeding practices were significantly associated with the mothers' marital status, education and family income.
Cuba
Since 1940, CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
's constitution has contained a provision officially recognising and supporting breastfeeding. Article 68 of the 1975 constitution reads, in part:
During the six weeks immediately preceding childbirth and the six weeks following, a woman shall enjoy obligatory vacation from work on pay at the same rate, retaining her employment and all the rights pertaining to such employment and to her labour contract. During the nursing period, two extraordinary daily rest periods of a half hour each shall be allowed her to feed her child.
Developing nations
In many countries, particularly those with a generally poor level of health, malnutritionMalnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
is the major cause of death in children under 5, with 50% of all those cases being within the first year of life. International organisations such as Plan International and La Leche League have helped to promote breastfeeding around the world, educating new mothers and helping the governments to develop strategies to increase the number of women exclusively breastfeeding.
Traditional beliefs in many developing countries give different advice to women raising their newborn child. In Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
babies are still frequently fed with tea alongside breastfeeding, reducing the benefits of breastfeeding and inhibiting the absorption of iron, important in the prevention of anaemia
Iron deficiency anemia
Iron-deficiency anemia is a common anemia that occurs when iron loss occurs, and/or the dietary intake or absorption of iron is insufficient...
.
Publicity, promotion and law
In response to public pressure, the health departments of various governments have recognised the importance of encouraging mothers to breastfeed. The required provision of baby changing facilities was a large step towards making public places more accessible for parents and in many countries there are now laws in place to protect the rights of a breastfeeding mother when feeding her child in public.The World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
(WHO), along with grassroots non-governmental organisations like the International Baby Food Action Network
International Baby Food Action Network
The International Baby Food Action Network, IBFAN, consists of public interest groups working around the world to reduce infant and young child morbidity and mortality. IBFAN aims to improve the health and well-being of babies and young children, their mothers and their families through the...
(IBFAN) have played a large role in encouraging these governmental departments to promote breastfeeding. Under this advice they have developed national breastfeeding strategies, including the promotion of its benefits and attempts to encourage mothers, particularly those under the age of 25, to choose to feed their child with breast milk.
Government campaigns and strategies around the world include:
- National Breastfeeding Week in the United Kingdom
- The Department of Health and Ageing Breastfeeding Strategy in Australia
- The National Women's Health Information Center in the United States
- World Breastfeeding Week
However, there has been a long, ongoing struggle between corporations promoting artificial substitutes and grassroots organisations and WHO promoting breastfeeding. The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes
The International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes is an international health policy framework for breastfeeding promotion adopted by the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization in 1981...
was developed in 1981 by WHO, but violations have been reported by organisations, including those networked in IBFAN. In particular, Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
took three years before it initially implemented the code, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s was again found in violation. Nestlé had previously faced a boycott
Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons...
, beginning in the U.S. but soon spreading through the rest of the world, for marketing practices in the third world (see Nestlé boycott
Nestlé boycott
The Nestlé boycott is a boycott launched on July 7, 1977, in the United States against the Swiss-based Nestlé corporation. It spread quickly throughout the United States, and expanded into Europe in the early 1980s. In Canada, the controversy lasted from 1978 to 1984...
).
Breastfeeding in public
A breastfeeding mother in publicPublic space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
with her baby will often need to breastfeed her child. A baby's need to feed cannot be determined by a set schedule, so legal and social rules about indecent exposure
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
and dress code are often adapted to meet this need. Many laws around the world make public breastfeeding legal and disallow companies from prohibiting it in the workplace, but the reaction of some people to the sight of breastfeeding can make things uncomfortable for those involved. Some breastfeeding mothers feel reluctant to breastfeed in public.
USA
A United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
appropriations bill (HR 2490) with a breastfeeding amendment was signed into law on September 29, 1999. It stipulated that no government funds may be used to enforce any prohibition on women breastfeeding their children in Federal buildings or on Federal property. Further, U.S. Public Law 106-58 Sec. 647 enacted in 1999, specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location." A majority of states have enacted state statutes specifically permitting the exposure of the female breast by women breastfeeding infants, or exempting such women from prosecution under applicable statutes, such as those regarding indecent exposure
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
.
Most, but not all, state law
State law
In the United States, state law is the law of each separate U.S. state, as passed by the state legislature and adjudicated by state courts. It exists in parallel, and sometimes in conflict with, United States federal law. These disputes are often resolved by the federal courts.-See also:*List of U.S...
s have affirmed the same right in their public places. By June 2006, 36 states had enacted legislation to protect breastfeeding mothers and their children. Laws protecting the right to nurse aim to change attitudes and promote increased incidence and duration of breastfeeding. Recent attempts to codify a child's right to nurse were unsuccessful in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and other states. Breastfeeding in public is legal in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
In November 2006, Emily Gillette, a 27-year-old from Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
was refused service in Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
after being asked to leave a Freedom Airlines
Freedom Airlines
Freedom Airlines, Inc. was an American FAA Part 121 certificated air carrier operating under air carrier certificate number FDKA087K issued on April 1, 2002. The Nevada Corporation is headquartered in Irving, Texas and is a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group...
flight by a flight attendant after Gillette refused to breastfeed her child under a blanket.
UK
A UK Department of Health survey found that 84% (about 5 out of 6 people) find breastfeeding in public acceptable if done discreetly, however 67% (2 out of 3) mothers are worried about general opinion being against public breastfeeding. To combat these fears in ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, a bill safeguarding the freedom of women to breastfeed in public was passed in 2005 by the Scottish Parliament. The legislation allows for fines of up to £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
2500 for preventing breastfeeding in legally permitted places.
Canada
In Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
gives some protection under sex equality. Although Canadian human rights protection does not explicitly include breastfeeding, a 1989 Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
decision (Brooks v. Safeway Canada
Brooks v. Safeway Canada
Brooks v. Safeway Canada [1989] 1 S.C.R. 1219 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on employer discrimination of pregnant employees. The Court found that Safeway violated the provincial Human Rights Act by failing to provide equal compensation for those who missed work due to pregnancy....
) set the precedent for pregnancy as a condition unique to women and that thus discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is a form of sex discrimination. Canadian legal precedent also allows women the right to bare their breasts, just as men may. In British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, the British Columbia Human Rights Commission Policy and Procedures Manual protects the rights of female workers who wish to breastfeed.
Cultural conflicts
When a Peruvian immigrant in the USA had a photograph taken of the act of breastfeeding, American police forces alerted by a photo lab technician briefly considered it to be sexual abuse and production of child pornographyChild pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
, resulting in the mother's arrest and the seizure of her children:
- Victor Jaeger... says he was prepared to testify on the couple's behalf and explain what appears to him to have been a cultural misunderstanding. Jaeger, who grew up in Peru, says breast-feeding is culturally important in his native country and considered acceptable to do in public, particularly in the country's jungle regions. "My cousin sent me a picture of her newborn, and it was of the baby being breast-fed," he says. "As someone who has lived here for 20 years, I asked myself, 'Why did she send me that picture?' To her, it was nothing."
Recent global uptake
The following table shows the uptake of exclusive breastfeeding.| Country | Percentage | Year | Type of feeding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armenia Armenia Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia... |
0.7% | 1993 | Exclusive |
| 20.8% | 1997 | Exclusive | |
| Benin Benin Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located... |
13% | 1996 | Exclusive |
| 16% | 1997 | Exclusive | |
| Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... |
59% | 1989 | Exclusive |
| 53% | 1994 | Exclusive | |
| Central African Republic Central African Republic The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,... |
4% | 1995 | Exclusive |
| Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
97% | 1993 | Predominant |
| Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... |
19% | 1993 | Exclusive |
| 95% (16%) | 1995 | Predominant (exclusive) | |
| Dominican Republic Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries... |
14% | 1986 | Exclusive |
| 10% | 1991 | Exclusive | |
| Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... |
96% | 1994 | Predominant |
| Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... |
68% | 1995 | Exclusive |
| Ethiopia Ethiopia Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2... |
78% | 2000 | Exclusive |
| Mali Mali Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with... |
8% | 1987 | Exclusive |
| 12% | 1996 | Exclusive | |
| Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
37.5% | 1987 | Exclusive |
| Niger Niger Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east... |
4% | 1992 | Exclusive |
| Nigeria Nigeria Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in... |
2% | 1992 | Exclusive |
| Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... |
12% | 1988 | Exclusive |
| 25% | 1992 | Exclusive | |
| Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
1.5% | 1988 | Exclusive |
| 17% | 1995 | Exclusive | |
| Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World... |
55% | 1991 | Exclusive |
| Senegal Senegal Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north... |
7% | 1993 | Exclusive |
| South Africa | 10.4% | 1998 | Exclusive |
| Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund.... |
55% | 1992 | Exclusive |
| 98% | 1990 | Predominant | |
| 61% | 1993 | Exclusive | |
| Thailand Thailand Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the... |
90% | 1987 | Predominant |
| 99% (0.2%) | 1993 | Predominant (exclusive) | |
| 4% | 1996 | Exclusive | |
| United Kingdom | 62% | 1990 | |
| 66% | 1995 | ||
| Zambia Zambia Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west.... |
13% | 1992 | Exclusive |
| 23% | 1996 | Exclusive | |
| Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three... |
12% | 1988 | Exclusive |
| 17% | 1994 | Exclusive | |
| 38.9% | 1999 | Exclusive |
Alternatives
Feeding vessels dating from about 2000 BC have been found in Egypt. A mother holding a very modern-looking nursing bottle in one hand and a stick, presumably to mix the food, in the other is depicted in a relief found in the ruins of the palace of King AshurbanipalAshurbanipal
Ashurbanipal |Ashur]] is creator of an heir"; 685 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
of Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
—who died in 888 BC. Clay feeding vessels were found in graves with infants from the first to fifth centuries AD in Rome.
Valerie Fildes writes in her book Breasts, bottles and babies. A history of Infant Feeding about examples from the 9th to 15th centuries of children getting animal's milk. In the 17th and 18th century Icelandic babies got cow's milk with cream and butter.
In 1582, the Italian physician Geronimo Mercuriali
Geronimo Mercuriali
Girolamo Mercuriale was an Italian philologist and physician, most famous for his work De Arte Gymnastica.-Biography:...
wrote in De morbis mulieribus (On the diseases of women) that women generally finished breastfeeding an infant exclusively after the third month and entirely around 13 months of age.
The feeding of flour or cereal mixed with broth
Broth
Broth is a liquid food preparation, typically consisting of either water or an already flavored stock, in which bones, meat, fish, cereal grains, or vegetables have been simmered. Broth is used as a basis for other edible liquids such as soup, gravy, or sauce. It can be eaten alone or with garnish...
or water became the next alternative in the 19th century, but once again quickly faded. Around this time there became an obvious disparity in the feeding habits of those living in rural areas and those in urban areas. Most likely due to the availability of alternative foods, babies in urban areas were breastfed for a much shorter length of time, supplementing the feeds earlier than those in rural areas.
Though first developed by Henri Nestlé
Henri Nestlé
Henri Nestlé, born Heinrich Nestle , was a German confectioner and founder of Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, as well as one of the main creators of condensed milk.-Birth:...
in the 1860s, infant formula
Infant formula
Infant formula is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding from powder or liquid . The U.S...
received a huge boost during the post World War II Baby Boom
Baby boomer
A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom and who grew up during the period between 1946 and 1964. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context. Therefore, it is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even...
. When business and births decreased, and government strategies in industrialised countries attempted to highlight the benefits of breastfeeding, Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
and other such companies focused their aggressive marketing campaigns on developing countries. In 1979 the International Baby Food Action Network
International Baby Food Action Network
The International Baby Food Action Network, IBFAN, consists of public interest groups working around the world to reduce infant and young child morbidity and mortality. IBFAN aims to improve the health and well-being of babies and young children, their mothers and their families through the...
(IBFAN) was formed to help raise awareness of such practices as supplementary feeding of new babies with formula and the inappropriate promotion of baby formula, and to help change attitudes that discourage or inhibit mothers from breastfeeding their babies.