Treatment of mothers who do not nurse their children described by SMALL A. E:
If a mother from any cause find herself under the disagreeable necessity of not suckling her child, the slightest regard to her own health should admonish her to be careful of her diet, until after the flow of milk into the breasts has completely ceased. The internal administration of Pulsatilla will often be sufficient with a spare diet to check any unpleasant consequences which might otherwise arise. If inflammation ensue, Bryonia, Belladonna and Phosphorus are appropriate remedies; also Rhus tox.
DOSE. – One drop, or six globules, of the selected remedy, in six spoonfuls of water, give a spoonful every three hours, and see
Homeopathy for Inflammation of the Breasts:
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| Inflammation of the Breasts nursing mother |
Calcarea carbonica for Breast infection:
if the breasts are much distended with milk. See also Weaning, page.
DOSE. – Of Calcarea, as above, one drop, or six globules, in four spoonfuls of water, a spoonful every six hours, four doses, if not better give some other remedy.
Laurie recommends dry cupping at the outer surface of the arm, a little below the shoulder, or at the feet, in obstinate cases, to hasten the suppression; and Williamson, if the breasts become distended and painful, the application of hot lard enveloped in raw cotton. It may well be doubted whether either of these applications are homoeopathic. Others practice the application of spirits of camphor externally to the breasts and about the arms, which often affords prompt relief. If such remedies are used at all, it should be with great caution, and all their effects carefully noted.
In cases where the objections to nursing on the part of the mother are insuperable, or when the death or disability of the mother appear to render it necessary, the following directions may not be found unimportant.
The choice of a nurse:
Let the nurse from whose breast the child is to derive its nourishment, be a healthy woman, free from any discoverable tendency to chronic diseases, about the same age or younger than the mother, and delivered at least within a few months of the same time. Let her complexion be clear, skin smooth and healthy, eyes and eyelids free from any redness or swelling. She should be of an amiable disposition, not irritable, nor prone to anger or passion, of regular habits, not indulging in any of the forms of dissipation, naturally kind and fond of children.
Diet during nursing :
The mother or nurse, should always exercise proper discretion in regard to the nature and quality of her food. This should always be nutritious and healthful, and should never be partaken of, simply for the sake of increasing the natural flow of milk, but only according to the reasonable demands of the appetite. This is sometimes done by ignorant mothers and nurses, and can never fail to produce injurious effects upon the delicate organism of the young infant. The diet should be simple and nourishing, not too rich, nor too stimulating, and should be taken at regular intervals. Meats should generally be used sparingly; bread, fruits, and vegetables freely; and the homoeopathic regimen should be strictly observed. All porter, ale, brandies, and all stimulating liquors and drinks, sarsaparilla, mead, beers, and c., should be positively prohibited. No idea can be more erroneous, than that women, during the nursing period, stand in need of stimulants to support their strength, under which impression, wine, malt liquors, and especially porter, are frequently resorted to. These are not only injurious from their stimulating properties, but the latter especially, from the nature of the drugs of which it is composed, can scarcely fail to engender obstinate and formidable chronic diseases, both of the mother and child. The relief afforded by such stimulants, if indeed it can be called relief, is of very short duration; it is invariably followed by a greater degree of weakness and depression, demanding a repetition of the same, or of more powerful stimulants, which destroy the tone of the stomach, deteriorate the quality of the milk, rendering it altogether unsuited to the delicate organism of the tender infant.