Natural Feeding of Infants

[1930]

Truby King Collection WS 125 KH9

Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs

‘At the present moment nothing could be more opportune or important for the welfare of mother and child and the future of the race than Dr Truby King’s moving appeal and clear unanswerable arguments in favour of Natural as opposed to Artificial rearing in early infancy.’ So begins the introduction to the 1930 English edition of King’s Natural Feeding, written by London obstetrician John Shields Fairbairn (1865-1944). In the pamphlet King outlined that a woman is ‘designed’ to feed twins, but can be expected to comfortably feed one baby for at least nine months. First published in 1917, this book was described by Mary King as her father’s ‘propaganda on the subject’.