title: The quality of a mother's milk and the health of her child: beliefs and practices of the women of Mithila.
abstract: Among Maithil women there is an understanding of the relation between a mother's milk and the health of her child. Their understanding is supported by the Ayurvedic tradition. Characteristic is the way in which breast-feeding condenses so many meanings--nutritional, medical and moral--into one act. The mother not only nurses her child but also forms his character, fulfills her own personhood and perpetuates her husband's family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, England.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reissland
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burghart
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003126:Colostrum / Q000502:physiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009390:Nepal; D011247:Pregnancy