In "A Modest Proposal," in paragraphs one through five, Swift uses the term, "mother." In paragraph six, he changes this to what word?

You are right in identifying that in paragraph six Swift
cleverly uses a different word to describe the "mothers" that have gone before in
previous paragraphs. Clearly the diction that Swift employs is key to his overall
success in overtly presenting a serious and reasonable "proposal" whilst at the same
time highlighting the shocking and dehumanising way in which many of his contemporaries
viewed, treated and thought of the Irish. Note the example that you refer
to:

The
number of souls in Ireland being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I
calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couples whose wives are breeders, from
which number I subtract thirty thousand couples, who are able to maintain their own
children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many under the present distresses of
the kingdom, but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand
breeders.

The word "mothers"
has been exchanged for "breeders," which clearly suggests a view where Irish women are
dehumanised and viewed only for their ability to "breed" in the same way that animals
are referred to. Note how Swift uses this term ironically; he is actually reinforcing
the point that women are not animals but human beings, but highlighting the way in which
they are being treated like animals at the moment.