The Mother's Manual of Children's DiseasesWest, Charles
Science
The Mother's Manual of Children's Diseases
West, Charles
Pediatrics -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
There is an entirely opposite condition in which the infant does not
thrive at the breast, and this for the most part is met with when the
mother has already given birth to and suckled several children. In these
instances the secretion is sometimes, though not always, abundant, but
the infant does not thrive upon it. The babe does not get on, is always
hungry after leaving the breast, and cries as though it wanted more; in
addition to which it is often purged, either while sucking or within a
few minutes afterwards, though the motions, except in being more
frequent and more watery than in health, do not by any means constantly
show any other change. The mother's history explains the rest. She is
constantly languid, suffers from back-ache, feels exhausted each time
after the babe has sucked, probably has neuralgia in her face, or
abiding headache. In many instances, too, her monthly periods return,
though as a rule they do not appear in healthy women while suckling. All
these symptoms show that her system is not equal to the duty she has
undertaken, and that therefore, for her sake as well as for that of the
infant, she must give up the attempt.
One more case there is in which suckling has to be given up, at any rate
in part, and that is when the milk is good in kind, but insufficient in
quantity for the child as it grows older. This insufficiency of quantity
shows itself at different periods after the infant's birth--at two
months, three, or four. The child is not otherwise ill than that it is
no longer bright, as it was wont to be, it ceases to gain flesh, it
sleeps more than it used to do, though when it wakes it is always eager
for the breast, and cries when leaving it, and if the experiment is made
of giving it some milk and water immediately on leaving it, it takes
that greedily. Mothers are loth to believe this failure of their
resources, and in the case of some who have firm and well-formed
breasts, there is but little change in their appearance to show that
what remains may serve for beauty, not for use. But if while the child
is sucking, the nipple is taken suddenly from its mouth, instead of
innumerable little jets of milk, spirting out from the openings of the
milk-ducts, the nipple will be seen to be barely moistened by its
languid flow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account