A Social History of Wet Nursing in America: From Breast to Bottle examines the intersection of medical science, social theory, and cultural practices as they shaped relations among wet nurses, physicians, and families from the colonial period through the twentieth century. It explores how Americans used wet nursing to solve infant feeding problems, shows why wet nursing became controversial as motherhood slowly became medicalized, and elaborates how the development of scientific infant feeding eliminated wet nursing by the beginning of the twentieth century. Janet Golden's study contributes to our understanding of the cultural authority of medical science, the role of physicians in shaping child rearing practices, the social construction of motherhood, and the profound dilemmas of class and culture that played out in the private space of the nursery.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a cogent analysis of the complicated and changing relationships among wet nurses...rich with fascinating details." Journal of Human Lactation
"Janet Golden's history of wet nursing tells an important story....This book is well worth a close reading both for its contributions to the history of medicine and for its illustration of these tensions." Ellen S. More, Johns Hopkins University Press
"Overall, Golden's book is an enjoyable read. Her work provides a thoughtful and detailed discussion of the complexities involved in various wet nursing arrangements....Golden's book is useful for those who are interested in the historical regulation of women's bodies and lives, especially for those who want to learn more about the historical regulation of poor, single mothers." Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association
"One of the more interesting chapters in human history is that of the feeding of infants by breast or bottle [and] Golden has gone a long way in explaining this necessary aspect of human behavior in this well-written and fascinating book." Ray Browne, Journal of American Culture --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
"Janet Golden's history of wet nursing tells an important story....This book is well worth a close reading both for its contributions to the history of medicine and for its illustration of these tensions." Ellen S. More, Johns Hopkins University Press
"Overall, Golden's book is an enjoyable read. Her work provides a thoughtful and detailed discussion of the complexities involved in various wet nursing arrangements....Golden's book is useful for those who are interested in the historical regulation of women's bodies and lives, especially for those who want to learn more about the historical regulation of poor, single mothers." Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association
"One of the more interesting chapters in human history is that of the feeding of infants by breast or bottle [and] Golden has gone a long way in explaining this necessary aspect of human behavior in this well-written and fascinating book." Ray Browne, Journal of American Culture --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
A Social History of Wet Nursing in the United States: From Breast to Bottle examines the intersection of medical science, social theory, and cultural practices as they shaped relations among wet nurses, physicians, and families from the colonial period through the twentieth century. It explores how Americans used wet nursing to solve infant feeding problems, why wet nursing became controversial as motherhood slowly became medicalized, and how the development of scientific infant feeding eliminated wet nursing early in the twentieth century.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit academic, but fascinating,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: SOCIAL HISTORY OF WET NURSING IN AMERICA: FROM BREAST TO BOTTLE (WOMEN & HEALTH C&S PERSPECTIVE) (Paperback)
Formula had a predecessor: the wet nurse. Golden tracks her down during the 18th and 19th centuries in America, and documents in some detail how wet nursing was supplanted by formula and why. This is a great source of information for those who wonder about the early history of formula, and also for those who wonder why we don't have more human milk banks. Golden describes the forces pushing the ages of partial and full weaning down through the nineteenth century in all classes.
It's fascinating to hear how a lot of breastfeeding myths we think come from other parts of the world were alive and well in our own country as long as breastfeeding was alive and well. And at least in some contexts, they weren't myths at all. Breastfeeding women in the nineteenth century, particularly wet nurses who were tandem nursing, needed much better nutrition than the other servants, for example. The ideas and information in this book deserve a larger audience.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
Women who refuse to suckle their infants are "dead while they live," wrote Cotton Mather in 1710. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nurse marketplace, scientific infant feeding, city temporary home, nurse labor force, wet nursing relationship, bottled breast milk, infant asylum, nursery relations, seeking wet nurses, resident wet nurses, wet nursing system, foundling care, maternal physician, healthy wet nurses, maternal nursing, hiring wet nurses, milk banks, employed wet nurses, milk selling, wet nursing business, scientific motherhood, foundling asylum, milk sellers, milk collection, nurse management Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Massachusetts Infant Asylum, New England, United States, Overseers of the Poor, Journal of the American Medical Association, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Protestant Home, Oxford University Press, Boston Lying-In Hospital, Archives of Pediatrics, Emmett Holt, Elizabeth Drinker, John Lovett Morse, Practical Treatise, Save the Babies, Abraham Jacobi, Boston Evening Transcript, Civil War, Guardians of the Poor, Lewis Smith, Medical Record, Trained Motherhood, Basic Books, Boston Floating Hospital New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Women who refuse to suckle their infants are "dead while they live," wrote Cotton Mather in 1710. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nurse marketplace, scientific infant feeding, city temporary home, nurse labor force, wet nursing relationship, bottled breast milk, infant asylum, nursery relations, seeking wet nurses, resident wet nurses, wet nursing system, foundling care, maternal physician, healthy wet nurses, maternal nursing, hiring wet nurses, milk banks, employed wet nurses, milk selling, wet nursing business, scientific motherhood, foundling asylum, milk sellers, milk collection, nurse management Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Massachusetts Infant Asylum, New England, United States, Overseers of the Poor, Journal of the American Medical Association, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Protestant Home, Oxford University Press, Boston Lying-In Hospital, Archives of Pediatrics, Emmett Holt, Elizabeth Drinker, John Lovett Morse, Practical Treatise, Save the Babies, Abraham Jacobi, Boston Evening Transcript, Civil War, Guardians of the Poor, Lewis Smith, Medical Record, Trained Motherhood, Basic Books, Boston Floating Hospital New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
12
books
cite this book:
See all 12 books citing this book
- History of American Pediatrics by Thomas E. Cone on 5 pages
- Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America by Faye E. Dudden on 4 pages
- Abandoned Children (Suny Series in Modern European Social History): Foundlings and Child Welfare in Nineteenth-Century France by Rachel G. Fuchs in Front Matter, page 114, and page 115
- Private Matters: American Attitudes Toward Childbearing and Infant Nurture in the Urban North, 1800-1860 (Women in American History) by Sylvia D. Hoffert in Front Matter, page 44, and page 53
- Breasts, Bottles, and Babies by Valerie A. Fildes in Front Matter, page 21, and page 22
See all 100 books this book cites
- Children and Youth in Sickness and in Health: A Historical Handbook and Guide (Children and Youth: History and Culture) by Janet Golden on page 83, page 216, and Back Matter
- Tramps, Unfit Mothers, and Neglected Children: Negotiating the Family in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia by Sherri Broder in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding Controversies in American Culture by Bernice L. Hausman in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Mother's Milk: Breastfeeding Controversies in American Culture by Bernice L. Hausman on page 10, and Back Matter
- From Midwives to Medicine: The Birth of American Gynecology by Deborah Kuhn McGregor in Back Matter
See all 12 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
