[The history of breast feeding]

The significance of breastfeeding, as considered millenniums ago, has been handed down by numerous contemporary reports and illustrations. The woman who suckles her baby has even since held an exceptional position in social life. In this essay the author describes the breastfeeding customs of far ancient people such as Egyptians, Greek, Romans and Indians. As a conclusion one might say that even today breastfeeding did not lose its importance for the relation between mother and child. It is an encouraging matter of fact that--unmindful of their emancipation--many "modern" mothers retain the breastfeeding habit. What would happen if breastfeeding was generally discredited, if mothers from all different countries would abandom breastfeeding in order to adopt bottle-feeding their children? Undoubtedly, that would not only cause a notable increase of the risks for the children's survival--which are due to many secondary factors--but, furthermore, it would mean an important expenditure for the budget for national economy which cannot be justified.