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Deficiency
of milk may exist even at a very early period after delivery, and yet
be
removed. This, however, is not to be accomplished by the means too
frequently
resorted to; for it is the custom with many, two or three weeks after
their
confinement, if the supply of nourishment for the infant is scanty, to
partake
largely of malt liquor for its increase. Sooner or later this will be
found
injurious to the constitution of the mother: but how, then, is this
deficiency
to be obviated? Let the nurse keep but in good health, and this point
gained,
the milk, both as to quantity and quality, will be as ample,
nutritious, and
good, as can be produced by the individual.
I
would recommend a plain, generous, and nutritious diet; not one
description of
food exclusively, but, as is natural, a wholesome, mixed, animal, and
vegetable
diet, with or without wine or malt liquor, according to former habit;
and,
occasionally, where malt liquor has never been previously taken, a pint
of good
sound ale may be taken daily with advantage, if it agree with the
stomach.
Regular exercise in the open air is of the greatest importance, as it
has an
extraordinary influence in promoting the secretion of healthy milk.
Early after
leaving the lying-in room, carriage exercise, where it can be obtained,
is to
be preferred, to be exchanged, in a week or so, for horse exercise, or
the
daily walk. The tepid, or cold salt-water shower bath, should be used
every
morning; but if it cannot be borne, sponging the body withsalt-water
must be
substituted.
By
adopting with perseverance the foregoing plan, a breast of milk will be
obtained as ample in quantity, and good in quality, as the constitution
of the
parent can produce, as the following case proves:
I
attended a lady twenty-four years of age, a delicate, but healthy
woman, in her
first confinement. The labour was good. Every thing went on well for
the first
week, except that, although the breasts became enlarged, and promised a
good
supply of nourishment for the infant, at its close there was merely a
little
oozing from the nipple. During the next fortnight a slight, but very
gradual
increase in quantity took place, so that a dessert spoonful only was
obtained
about the middle of this period, and perhaps double this quantity at
its
expiration. In the mean time the child was necessarily fed upon an
artificial
diet, and as a consequence its bowels became deranged, and a severe
diarrhoea
followed.
For
three or four days it was a question whether the little one would live,
for so
greatly had it been reduced by the looseness of the bowels that it had
not
strength to grasp the nipple of its nurse; the milk, therefore, was
obliged to
be drawn, and the child fed with it from a spoon. After the lapse of a
few
days, however, it could obtain the breast-milk for itself; and, to make
short
of the case, during the same month, the mother and child returned home,
the
former having a very fair proportion of healthy milk in her bosom, and
the
child perfectly recovered and evidently thriving fast upon it.
Where,
however, there has been an early deficiency in the supply of
nourishment, it
will most frequently happen that, before the sixth or seventh month,
the
infant's demands will be greater than the mother can meet. The
deficiency must
be made up by artificial food, which must be of a kind generally
employed
before the sixth month, and given through the bottle.
Note:
While every
care is taken to provide medically accurate and up to date information
in this web site, it is to be noted that this advice is not intended to
replace the advice of your physician. Before undertaking the advice
contained in this web site, you should consult a medical professional.
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