
A Bedouin mother, elaborately adorned with jewelry, gazes at her infant child in the early 1900s.
Photograph by Garrigues, National Geographic Creative
A mother in the Middle East breastfeeds her baby as she sits outside her home.
Photograph by American Colony Photographers, National Geographic Creative
A mother and daughter watch for a signal fire through a telescope in Arizona's Grand Canyon.
Photograph by Kolb Brothers, National Geographic Creative
A Javanese mother nurses her child on Java Island, Indonesia.
Photograph by Eliza R. Scidmore, National Geographic Creative
A young Algerian couple in Biskra stand with their toddler in front of a building.
Photograph by National Geographic Creative
Dressed in traditional clothing, a woman in northern Mongolia carries her son on her back.
Photograph by Ethan C. Le Munyon, National Geographic Creative
A Toda infant child sleeps in her mother's embrace at Nilgiri Hill, near Madras, India.
Photograph by Eliza R. Scidmore, National Geographic Creative
A Ceylonese mother rests a child on her hip.
Photograph by Eliza R. Scidmore, National Geographic Creative
A Swiss mother reaches for her daughter's hand, which is full of flowers.
Photograph by Der Vereinigten Kunstanst A.G., National Geographic Creative
In the Yunnan Province, China, the horn-shaped hairstyle these women are wearing indicates they have had children.
Photograph by China Inland Mission, Toronto, National Geographic Creative
A Chinese mother and her child wear traditional clothing from the Manchurian region of China.
Photograph by Eliza R. Scidmore, National Geographic Creative
A Slovak Hungarian immigrant to the United States holds her infant and stands by her son.
Photograph by Frederic C. Howe, National Geographic Creative
A Tingian woman carries a child on her back and balances a basket on her head in Luzon Island, Philippines.
Photograph by Dean C. Worcester, National Geographic Creative
A Russian immigrant to the United States stands with her three children.
Photograph by Frederic C. Howe, National Geographic Creative
A sleeping baby in a woven cradle hangs from his mother's head in Papua New Guinea.
Photograph by A.B. Lewis, National Geographic Creative
An elderly Flemish grandmother in Belgium hugs a child.
Photograph by National Geographic Creative
A Sami woman, toddler, and infant in Lapland, Finland, sit on pelts that soften their surroundings and keep them warm. The infant is in a cradleboard, a traditional protective baby carrier.
Photograph by Borg Mesch, National Geographic Creative
A mother in Cambodia balances her child on her hip.
Photograph by National Geographic Creative
A Japanese woman carries her twins on her back with a cross wrap.
Photograph by Eliza R. Scidmore, National Geographic Creative
A maid and her mistress hold the hands of a small child while shopping for dishes on a Ter Goes sidewalk in Holland.
Photograph by Emil P. Albrecht, National Geographic Creative
A Hungarian woman spins wool as her baby sleeps on her lap.
Photograph by D.W. Iddings, National Geographic Creative
A mother holds her baby and a surgeon's yardstick while posing for a photo in Cuzco Valley, Peru.
Photograph by Hiram Bingham, National Geographic Creative
Women walk hand in hand with their children in northern Mongolia.
Photograph by Ethan D. Le Munyon, National Geographic Creative
A mother and child stand under corn hung to dry over the entrance to their home in Postyen, Hungary.
Photograph by A.W. Cutler, National Geographic Creative
A mother carries her baby, surrounded by pillows, down the street in Mezokovesd, Hungary.
Photograph by A.W. Cutler, National Geographic Creative
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