1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910782550303321

Autore

Apple Rima D (Rima Dombrow), <1944->

Titolo

Mothers and medicine : a social history of infant feeding, 1890-1950 / / Rima D. Apple

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Madison, Wis. : , : University of Wisconsin Press, , 1987

ISBN

0-299-11483-X

9786612268861

1-282-26886-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xv, 261 pages) : illustrations

Collana

Wisconsin publications in the history of science and medicine ; ; no. 7

Disciplina

362.1/9892

Soggetti

Breastfeeding - United States - History - 19th century

Breastfeeding - United States - History - 20th century

Infants - Nutrition - United States - History - 19th century

Infants - Nutrition - United States - History - 20th century

Mothers - United States - History - 19th century

Mothers - United States - History - 20th century

Physician and patient - United States - History - 19th century

Physician and patient - United States - History - 20th century

Physicians - United States - History - 19th century

Physicians - United States - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliography (p. 247-251) and index.

Sommario/riassunto

In the nineteenth century, infants were commonly breast-fed; by the middle of the twentieth century, women typically bottle-fed their babies on the advice of their doctors. In this book, Rima D. Apple discloses and analyzes the complex interactions of science, medicine, economics, and culture that underlie this dramatic shift in infant-care practices and women's lives. As infant feeding became the keystone of the emerging specialty of pediatrics in the twentieth century, the manufacture of infant food became a lucrative industry. More and more mothers reported difficulty in nursing their babies. While physicians were establishing themselves and the scientific experts and the infant-



food industry was hawking the scientific bases of their products, women embraced "scientific motherhood," believing that science could shape child care practices. The commercialization and medicalization of infant care established an environment that made bottle feeding not only less feared by many mothers, but indeed "natural" and "necessary." Focusing on the history of infant feeding, this book clarifies the major elements involved in the complex and sometimes contradictory interaction between women and the medical profession, revealing much about the changing roles of mothers and physicians in American society.