Madres, leche y biberones: Alimentación contra la mortalidad infantil. Santiago de Chile (1890-1920)

This paper analyses the breastfeeding programs developed to stop infant mortality at the beginning of the 20th century in Chile, within the cultural history of feeding. Based on a variety of medical sources, it is concluded that women were encouraged to breastfeed, but the use of bottles was accepted, provided that the instructions of scientific parenting were followed. Thus, the baby bottle became a strategic and symbolic object for nurturing infants, transmitting hygienic precepts, and watching over low-income mothers, who were considered the health foundations of their families and of the future of the nation.