Abstract
BRADFORD-HILL has pointed out in his "Principles of Medical Statistics" that bottle-fed babies are 'selected', in that some factor has determined whether or not the mother feeds her baby. Deductions as to the relative values of breast- and bottle-feeding, based on comparisons of growth and health of groups of babies fed by one or other method, are vitiated by this selection. Mr. Eric Wood points out, in an article in the Medical Press and Circular of February 9, that no controlled experiment has been made in which the two groups have, been comparable at the start, in heredity, environment and physical conditions. Nor is this possible; for readiness to agree to give up breast-feeding would, in itself, make the 'bottle' group a selected one. In default of this possibility, Mr. Wood points out the need for much more information on the following points. (1) The effects of the mother's environment, food, etc., on the ability to suckle and on the quality and quantity of the milk. We now realize that the easy assumption that the mother is sacrificed to the baby does not hold without qualification. (2) The response of babies to their food. Is the flying start of the breast-baby due to the composition of the colostrum ? Babies are not, like lambs, dependent on the colostrum for a supply of antibodies from their mothers; antibodies (the antibody to the Eh factor, for example) pass through the human placenta. Both flying start and ability to suckle may both be evidence of a superior reproductive capacity. (3) The advantages, if any, of breast-fed babies that persist into later life. Mr. Wood points out that this information would be given only by long-term investigations based "on co-ordinated planning, a long time in advance, by some suitable 'ad hoc' committee or other body". Actually, very valuable work into the composition of human milk has been carried out, for two years, at the National Institute for Research in Dairying, supported by the Medical Research Council; and more extensive investigations, on the lines suggested, had been planned and work on them had started at the beginning of this year.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Value of Human Milk. Nature 153, 584 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153584b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153584b0