Breastfeeding and the Survival of Women
My prospector friend Stormie Waters is getting hitched up with Roland Meadows, and they will make a fine couple. Like many others, they want to have the event in the spring. It may even happen outdoors by one of Stormie's favorite streams.
They have occasionally sought my advice and sometimes I got a mite uncomfortable. Stormie said, "It's known that breastfeeding is best for a baby's nutrition." She looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "They get calcium that way. Why don't women's bones collapse?" Roland also waited for my reply.
Young Mother Breastfeeding Her Child, Jules Breton, 1873 |
Mammalian milk is composed of water, fat, lactose, calcium, whey proteins, and minerals in amounts that depend on the animal species. Milk is very high in calcium for several very good reasons. Calcium deficiency (hypocalcemia) in infants causes major serious health problems including heart, nerve, and muscle function damage plus poor bone formation which causes brittle bones prone to fractures. Babies with low blood-calcium levels may have jittery, tremors or uncontrollable twitching. It is also very important for development of teeth.
The rest of the article is found at "How Women Survive Breastfeeding."