From the Abrahamic tale of Mose’s experience after floating down the river to records of wealthy families paying women to act as their infant’s main source of nourishment, history has many tales to tell of wet nursing. Still, the act of wet nursing continues to be practiced today in many cultures for various reasons: to feed the infants of upper class Chinese, to help out family when a mother needs to leave for a few hours, or because a woman has come across a hungry infant. Actress Salma Hayek was inspired to do this very practice when she came into contact with a newborn in need of milk in Sierra Leone. Other episodes of women’s superpowers continue to be broadcasted. In January of 2016, a Columbian police officer saved an abandoned infant by breastfeeding the hypothermic newborn.

 

What Exactly is Wet Nursing?

 

Wet nursing, also known as cross nursing when the activity is temporary, is the simple act of nursing another women’s infant, delivering your breast milk to this child who isn’t directly your own. Still practiced even in the United States, wet nursing is liberating to many mothers who need a break, are unable to provide enough milk for their infant due to rare complications, or would like to help an infant in need. Modern cases of wet nursing are sometimes criticized as unsafe and other times praised. You can find more stories on modern wet nursing by clicking here and here.

 

Arguments for Wet Nursing or Cross Nursing

Wet nursing makes leaving your infant or watching someone else’s infant much easier if the child is not accustomed to receiving bottles. Babies with aversion to bottles may feel stressed when away from the breast, flooding their developing brain with cortisol and refusing nourishment. Once this episode has occurred, most mothers never want to leave their infant again. But, if a mother knows she can leave her infant with a trusted friend or relative who is lactating, she can leave her child knowing he’ll be able to get the comfort he has grown accustomed to.

 

Breastfeeding rather than feeding an infant with a bottle also has its benefits. Babies must work harder to obtain milk from a breast and are better able to control the flow of milk than when they are using a bottle. This greater control often leads to less stomach upset and a better understanding of fullness.

 

Wet nursing instead of bottle feeding also provides skin to skin contact, also known as kangaroo care. Babies held skin to skin while nursing cry less, regulate their temperature better, and have stronger suck patterns.

 

Safety Concerns Over Wet Nursing

The main safety concern regarding wet nursing is the possible transmission of blood-borne pathogens between the breastfeeding woman and the child she is nursing. HIV, Hepatitis, and other diseases could be transmitted to the infant if the women is unaware she has this disease. Because of this, La Leche League International continues to discourage the practice. Other concerns occur around the fear that wet nursing will interfere with natural mother to infant bonding.

 

If you are considering allowing someone to wet nurse your infant, keep these things in mind:

• She should be screened for infectious agents including HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis, and other common blood borne pathogens.
• She should be in good health with a well balanced diet and have her own infant who is growing normally.
• She should not consume much alcohol or caffeine.

 

For the best luck, ensure that you know the woman breastfeeding your infant while you are gone and that they are someone whom you can trust. Wet nursing can be a convenient stress reliever for the mother and infant who’ve recently had to be apart abruptly. Sisters and best friends are often available to help out and are a safer option than hiring out or receiving help from a stranger. Wet nursing or cross nursing can be a great experience for all parties involved, keeping baby, mom, and the wet nurse happy.