Dr.Promilla Butani Pediatrics Practice

Breast feeding is an emotional subject. It is linked to the basic events of life and its difficult not to be touched by it in some way. The merits of breast feeding are widely recognized. Jargons like “Breast is best” and “Breast feed is the Baby’s right” are being used to promote the un ageing practice of breast feeding amongst all mothers rich or poor, urban or rural. Our grandmothers and great, great grandmothers managed to breast feed and our counterparts in traditional rural societies still do so. Today’s mothers have to rediscover this knowledge with our help. The modern ‘era’ of artificial feeding dates back to the beginning of the century. There was this woman’s desire to be relieved of the “chore” of breast feeding and also equally importantly another key factor was the woman’s rapid loss of confidence in the ability to do so. Old customs are abandoned. The extended family is replaced by small nuclear families, feeding bottles and powders are readily available and ...

Summer of 1972 – I, a house surgeon in the pediatric ward of Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, on a twenty four hour duty. It was the night before our emergency day – So the ward was relatively quiet – as most beds had been vacant in anticipation of the heavy rush of admission, the next day. There was just one acutely sick child in the ward with broncho pneumonia who was battling for life. He suddenly took a turn for the worse and died despite all resuscitative efforts. One heavy emergency days – there was no time to think about the dead leave aside console the family or mourn or grieve. Death was common place occurring and turnover was so quick that before one could even think there was another sick infant there.     The night was different – every one was upset in the ward but there was no time to ponder over his death because the child’s anguished father turned hysterical, became abusive and was on the verge of assaulting my physically. I was saved fro...