Breastfeeding - History

History

In the Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires, women usually fed only their own children. However, breastfeeding began to be seen as something too common to be done by royalty, and wet nurses 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. But lower class women breastfeed their infants and used a wet nurse only if they were unable to feed their own infant. Attempts were made in 15th century Europe to use cow or goat milk, but these attempts were not successful. In the 18th century, flour or cereal mixed with broth were introduced as substitutes for breastfeeding, but this did not have a favorable outcome either. True commercial infant formulas appeared on the market in the mid 19th century but their use did not become widespread until after World War II.