The development of trade to the end of the second century A.D. between the eastern Provinces of the Roman Empire and the countries lying further east

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Human milk banking to 1985

This paper provides a literature review of the use of donor human milk by hospitals in Australia and elsewhere from the postwar period through to the early 1980s, and establishes the context for a small study of practices which happened in that period. The latter study will be reported elsewhere. The purpose of this paper is to provide a resource for future comparison when the history of the new hospital milk banks of the 21st century is written. Relevant literature in English and two articles in French were accessed

The dilemma of breastmilk feeding

Today, feeding expressed milk, usually by bottle, is being ‘normalised’. This mode of infant feeding has shifted from something needed in relatively few circumstances to the norm, with personal, family, industrial relations, and women’s rights implications. We have seen the feeding of infants with artificial baby milks develop from its rightful place as an option required in only a limited range of circumstances, to being seen as a life choice or even a necessity, helped by the power of marketing. The definitions below (Box 1) provide a basis for the discussion which follows (Thorley 2010)

The case for extended lifespan in cooperatively breeding mammals: a re-appraisal.

Recent comparative studies have suggested that cooperative breeding is associated with increases in maximum lifespan among mammals, replicating a pattern also seen in birds and insects. In this study, we re-examine the case for increased lifespan in mammalian cooperative breeders by analysing a large dataset of maximum longevity records. We did not find any consistent, strong evidence that cooperative breeders have longer lifespans than other mammals after having controlled for variation in body mass, mode of life and data quality. The only possible exception to this general trend is found in the African mole-rats (the Bathyergid family), where all members are relatively long-lived, but where the social, cooperatively breeding species appear to be much longer-lived than the solitary species. However, solitary mole-rat species have rarely been kept in captivity or followed longitudinally in the wild and so it seems likely that their maximum lifespan has been underestimated when compared to the highly researched social species. Although few subterranean mammals have received much attention in a captive or wild setting, current data instead supports a causal role of subterranean living on lifespan extension in mammals

Sharing breastmilk: Wet nursing, cross-feeding and milk donations

Wet nursing and cross feeding both involve the breastfeeding of a child by someone other than the mother. Wet nursing involves a woman who is not the social equal of the employer, is never reciprocal, and is normally for payment. Cross feeding (also 'cross nursing') is the informal sharing of breastfeeding between equals, and is usually unpaid and may be reciprocal. Community attitudes in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are distrustful of this practice, though satisfaction is reported by the women involved in sharing breastfeeding. Community unease has included feelings of revulsion, rationalized by concern about the transmission of infections. Yet recently there have been sporadic feature articles in the print media reporting instances of, and opinions, on these practices. This review article explores the sharing of breastfeeding, principally in Australia, and provides an historical context for concerns about transmission of infection. These issues will also be discussed in relation to human milk banking

‘There is absolutely NO SUBSTITUTE for fresh milk’: dairy marketing in Australia, twentieth century

This article discusses marketing of dairy products in twentieth-century Australia with the focus on liquid cow’s milk or products that could be reconstituted with the addition of water to make cow’s milk for domestic use. The marketing of other processed products of dairy origin, namely, butter, cream and manufactured infant-feeding products (“formula”), will not be covered here. Early in the century when municipal health officials had very real concerns about the cleanliness of dairies and the safety of water supplies for households, public health officials began to regulate dairies. Marketing addressed the concerns of consumers about safety, even decades into the century, and affordability and convenience increasingly developed as strong selling points; underlying all was the concept of cow’s milk as a “complete” food. By at least the 1960s the industry was seeking out opinion leaders to reach its key markets of children and pregnant or breastfeeding women

Human milk use in Australian hospitals, 1949-1985

This paper provides a literature review of the use of donor human milk by hospitals in Australia and elsewhere from the postwar period through to the early 1980s, and establishes the context for a small study of practices which happened in that period. The latter study will be reported elsewhere. The purpose of this paper is to provide a resource for future comparison when the history of the new hospital milk banks of the 21st century is written. Relevant literature in English and two articles in French were accessed