Description
Book SynopsisWhite Blood is a history of human milk and tells the story of how babies have been fed from antiquity to modern times and why it matters. 'Breast is Best' is the popular mantra, but there is a perennial debate about the pros and cons of 'breast and bottle'. White Blood explores this vital question, which has implications for the health and wellbeing of mothers, their young, families, communities and even countries. Starting in Ancient Greece and Rome, where human milk was thought to be blood diverted from the womb to the breast and there whitened and vivified, it lets the voices of those concerned with the care of newborn infants, and those who followed them, speak across the centuries of how they were, and should best be, nourished.
Trade Review"[Weaver] takes readers on a detailed, 2000-year journey through the biology, technology, medicalization, and truth of the distribution of human milk to babies and young children. The book reads much like a well-thought-out article in the
New Yorker, cumulatively building reader interest, every turn of the page revealing more new information. . . . The volume includes a variety of visual enhancements including color photographs and medical drawings that support the surrounding content. . . . This is definitely a source not to be overlooked by readers who want a comprehensive historical depiction of human milk as the vital nutritional resource for babies worldwide. . . . Recommended." * Choice *
Table of ContentsPreface
1 Human Milk – Miraculous Fluid
2 Humours – White Blood
3 Alchemy – Soft Sweet Subtil Substance
4 Science – Corpuscular Fluid
5 Nature – Nature's Bountiful Urn
6 Paediatrics – Medicalisation of Infant Feeding
7 Puericulture – Maternal and Child Welfare
8 Biology and Technology – Breast and Bottle
Acknowledgments and Sources
Bibliography
Picture Credits
Index
