AAB 109 Breastfeeding Part 3 on tour of breastfeeding in the world

Next country on our breastfeeding tour is England.  Records show that the pattern of wealthy married women hiring wet nurses in France, was quite the same in England also.  Historians came to this conclusion based on the stark difference in birth rates between English upper and working class women.  The wealthy women gave birth every year and the working class women had longer intervals with births about every 3 years.  While not 100% accurate, women who were wet nurses experienced a suppression in ovulation, which made wet nursing a relatively reliable contraceptive.  I find this so interesting as the wealthier women, who should have enjoyed a healthier life were not so healthy largely because of the number of pregnancies and births they had which were commonly between 12 - 18 by the time they were less than 40 years old.  These high number of pregnancies was very hard on their bodies. They spent a better part of their married life pregnant, while the lower class women who were busy nursing babies and having fewer babies, enjoyed a healthier life.