Title
Continental Breast Pump set
Year/Period
1920s-1930s
Region
Germany
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: Please refer to individual parts.
Accession No.
2024-00141
Collection of
This breast pump comprises a glass pipe and rubber ball, which was a common breast pump design from the late 1800s to mid 1900s. In the early 1900s, colonial authorities in the Straits Settlements sought to reduce infant mortality through infant welfare programmes and midwifery training. Infant welfare programmes taught mothers how to care for their infants and children based on Western practices. In the Western practice of medicine, infant feeding was focused on the importance of milk, rather than early weaning onto foods such as mashed banana. For mothers who could not express their own milk or had difficulty getting their child to latch to their breasts, milk foods and breast pumps were offered as an answer.
