Answer: they buried 30 to 50% of their children. Many Mothers cannot get the babies to either latch on or produce enough milk. Unfortunately we are not going to return to the time of a milk maidens.
You sure it’s that high? There were other means of feeding.
Oh, how melodramatic. My mother raised 9 children, and none of us were given formula after weaning. We all did just fine.
The more likely cause of the high infant mortality from years ago was childhood diseases as well as things like dysentery, typhoid, yellow fever, tetanus, etc., instead of not being able to breastfeed. As for the excuse of why the US has such a high infant mortality rate now, I don’t know.
It’s true that some women can’t get the baby to properly latch on or perhaps can’t produce enough immediately for the baby. But the number of women who truly cannot produce enough milk is very, very low. With proper support and education on how to properly get the baby to latch, how to make sure the baby is getting enough, and how to increase the milk production, almost any woman can successfully breastfeed if she wants to do so. The knowledge and support for breastfeeding isn’t that common in many families now and new mothers are even often told by older women how wonderful formula is now because it doesn’t tie the mother to her baby.
But it’s a travesty that women and babies who need formula are suffering through rationing and shortages like this.
Peach