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The Effect of Changing Medical Advice on Breastfeeding

1,049 views · Published 15 May 2012 · 2:09 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: FORA.tv · 2012 · Science & Technology

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Complete video available for purchase at http://fora.tv/2012/04/28/Evolution_of_Mothering_How_Long_Should_a_Baby_Suckle

Dr. Robert Martin, Curator of Biological Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago, surveys how changing medical advice on breastfeeding has affected motherhood over time.

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All primates have drawn-out life histories with long pregnancies and extended suckling. Time devoted to individual offspring more than compensates for limited daily investment in reproduction. A key part of intensive maternal care in primates is frequent suckling on demand, reflected in milk composition. In all these respects, humans are typical primates; but we also have special features, notably in brain development. But how long should a mother suckle her baby? Biological comparisons yield clues to the natural breastfeeding period for which women are adapted.

Dr. Robert Martin is A. Watson Armour III Curator of Biological Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago. He has devoted his career to exploring the evolutionary tree of primates, as summarized in his 1990 textbook Primate Origins. Dr. Martin is particularly interested in reproductive biology and the brain, because these systems have been of special importance in primate evolution. His research is based on broad comparisons across primates, covering reproduction, anatomy, behaviour, palaeontology and molecular evolution.

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