Baby Farming (c. 1867 - )

From

c. 1867

The term baby farming was used in the nineteenth century to describe the fostering of infants, for a fee. It usually involved an infant being put into the 'care' of a wet-nurse, who would breastfeed the infant. Otherwise, the child was fed artificially with cow's milk, which was a very difficult and dangerous practice. Many infants died while in the care of baby farmers. The term first came into use in the British press in 1867, and was appearing in Australian newspaper articles by the end of that year. On 5 March 1890, the Age newspaper portrayed baby farmers as 'ready tools in the hands of heartless mothers, prepared to adopt illegitimate offspring whose lives they regard as of less value than a dog's'.