0 votes
in Living by
Wet nursing phased out in most Western countries as other baby-feeding techniques "improved" (don't say that in front of a lactation activist). Formula, pumps, better bottles, refrigeration and other modern inventions, along with a different perspective on *************, diminished the profession and practice of nursing another woman's baby.

Should we return to the practice of wet nursing? Should friends, sisters and professionals nurse other babies? Or should we stick to bottles, formula and mom's only?

THEGUARDIAN.COM reports:
Elisa Albert was struggling to ********** and her son was losing weight fast. When her friend offered to nurse him alongside her own baby, she was shocked. But what was stopping her?

Your answer

Your name to display (optional):
Privacy: Your email address will only be used for sending these notifications.
Anti-spam verification:
To avoid this verification in future, please log in or register.

39 Answers

0 votes
by
Outsourcing. Professional wet nurse makes about $1000 a week. It's making a quiet comeback. Of course, the FEDS will want to regulate it somehow. Just think, Pasteurized, FDA approved ****** milk for your baby. Only in America.
0 votes
by
Whatever is best for the baby.
0 votes
by
It is **** to actually know people private lives maybe she is fine but her couple is doing the wrong thing (who knows), some people are sick and they do not even know it themselves. But it is a personal choice, everybody with their ideas.
0 votes
by
There are too many illnesses nowadays and people living very wild life styles, I would not trust in anybody to ********** my babies. ****** milk is a body fluid, it can be very dangerous unless you really know the person very well.
0 votes
by
Even back when this was common, wet nurses were screened for bad habits and past behaviors that might be unhealthy to the baby. Now we have lab tests.
0 votes
by
Blood is screened before transfusions and people get sick because they make mistakes. If people begin doing it for money they will lie.
0 votes
by
It is the best food for the baby. If it helps then why not?
0 votes
by
A baby has to eat and bond with someone... I guess if mom is too busy to raise her baby, let someone else do it.
0 votes
by
A more honorable profession than crack *****.
0 votes
by
Formulas cause a lot of problems. It's better to be natural.
0 votes
by
It is a personal choice, if I cannot ****** feed my kids I prefer to give them formula over allowing them to drink somebody elses ****** milk. If the person is sick or consumes alcohol, caffeine or other drugs, there is no immunities benefits at all, many people diet is very unhealthy as well.
0 votes
by
It might be vastly superior to "formula."
0 votes
by
.............. " .............. I'm not comfortable sitting in a restaurant, knowing that on the other side of the room, a woman is openly, ************* a baby............. " .............
0 votes
by
That's sad...and completely off topic.
0 votes
by
The only 'why not' is because of medical reasons, I think if you are going to ********** other' babies, they should know your medical history and you should get checked for stuff. Otherwise yes it's definitely more nutritious and natural for babies than powdered crap.
0 votes
by
Have you heard about all the people that have gotten sick after receiving a blood transfusion? The blood is supposed to be ******** in a lab and everything, but things happen anyways. One of my friends got Hepatitis C through a blood transfusion. The same problem would happen with the ****** milk. It is necessary to know about all the habits of the woman and her medical history before considerating giving her milk to a ***** that is not hers. Many people are buying organic milk because of all the ******** and problems with the cows milk even when it is processed before selling it to the customers.
0 votes
by
Back when this was common, people were usually careful to screen the wet nurse to ensure that her milk would be okay.
0 votes
by
The wet nurses sometimes used to live in the house with the family and work as nannies of the babies. In that case they were totally supervised, but these are other times.
0 votes
by
Obviously one needs to choose a wet nurse carefully, but this was the mother's personal friend, whom I ****** she knew about her lifestyle, state of health, etc.
0 votes
by
It's still better than formula, as it provides some ammunities, which formula does not.
0 votes
by
Where did it go?
0 votes
by
UP TO THE TWO MOTHERS, ...NOT MY PLACE TO DECIDE.
0 votes
by
SURE~I was a '****** BABY'!!
and I still LOVE *******!
0 votes
by
what ****** do is THEIR business
0 votes
by
It's sad the woman put herself and the newborn through that. Using her mother not ******-feeding her as the reason for her disconnected relationship with her mother, to the point of risking the health and well-being of her newborn.

Perhaps postpartum played a part in the lack of judgment and thinking about the matters of importance when it comes to the health safety and well-being of her newborn.

"I had been fed with formula as a baby myself, and I wanted every kind of distance from my own upbringing".

"My relationship with my own mother is a challenging work-in-progress. I always had my share of friends, some of them good, but rarely did I feel I could trust women completely. Inevitably, it seemed, there was a hefty serving of cliquishness with a side of subverted rage".

I hope the newborn got the nourishment he needed in time. And the Mother has the life and connection with her newborn she wanted with her own mother.

"The baby was wetting nappies, but he needed to nurse constantly, and never got a full belly on which he (and I) could rest for a few hours"

"She was visibly shaken by the sight of our shrivelled infant".

Other Symptoms
"A malnourished baby may sleep too much or cry excessively".
Signs & Symptoms of Malnutrition in Babies
http://www.livestrong.com/art...

...




It's sad the woman put herself and the newborn through that. Using her mother not ******-feeding her as the reason for her disconnected relationship with her mother, to the point of risking the health and well-being of her newborn.

Perhaps postpartum played a part in the lack of judgment and thinking about the matters of importance when it comes to the health safety and well-being of her newborn.

"I had been fed with formula as a baby myself, and I wanted every kind of distance from my own upbringing".

"My relationship with my own mother is a challenging work-in-progress. I always had my share of friends, some of them good, but rarely did I feel I could trust women completely. Inevitably, it seemed, there was a hefty serving of cliquishness with a side of subverted rage".

I hope the newborn got the nourishment he needed in time. And the Mother has the life and connection with her newborn she wanted with her own mother.

"The baby was wetting nappies, but he needed to nurse constantly, and never got a full belly on which he (and I) could rest for a few hours"

"She was visibly shaken by the sight of our shrivelled infant".

Other Symptoms
"A malnourished baby may sleep too much or cry excessively".
Signs & Symptoms of Malnutrition in Babies
http://www.livestrong.com/art...

Precautions
Failure to thrive and loss of weight can cause serious complications in young ********. Talk to your doctor if you think your ***** may have a nutritional deficiency or shows any symptoms of malnutrition. Without prompt treatment, malnutrition in infants and toddlers can cause permanent physical and mental stunting, minimizing the possibility of your ***** reaching his full potential.

http://www.livestrong.com/art...

Its not just about the ******-feeding everything that person eats / consumes transfers to the baby. If I had a baby I would want the baby to bond with me. And be a strong influence over that *****, until it could make its own safe rational healthy decisions in life. If that means formula fed so be it! The *****'s life is more important than what I want!
(more)
0 votes
by
Best thing for a baby.Do NOT pasteurize or other wise meddle with the milk. Leave it raw.
0 votes
by
It never went away.
0 votes
by
Actually, I didn't know we had stopped ****** feeding our babies. When did THAT happen? The "Wet Nurse" concept goes back a few thousand years, and works hand in hand with ****** feeding. Not all women can produce enough milk to fully nourish their baby(s), and a "wet nurse" is better than bottle feeding. This happened to one of my kids, but we couldn't find a wet nurse, so we were forced to bottle feed.
0 votes
by
sometimes the old ways are the best.....
0 votes
by
Healthier than giving the baby formula.
0 votes
by
Many humans have very questionable behaviors and habits and pasteurizing human milk makes it useless. People would need to know everything about a woman before allowing her to ****** feed their ********.

I buy organic cow milk for my daughters because I do not trust in the regular milk.
0 votes
by
Before we made momma's milk in a can from cows it was normal, otherwise babies died.
0 votes
by
****** milk is better than formula, so what's wrong if it's come from another woman? As long as you know she's not on drugs.
0 votes
by
During the 8 years when I was lactating, there were times when I could have been helpful in quieting a busy friend's baby by feeding the baby myself. But our culture can barely cope with *************, let alone ************* each other's babies. Considering how much this practice would allow women to actually HELP each other, I say bring it back.
0 votes
by
Unless there is a medical need for it, why would a woman outsource it? I'd think the whole ************* process is also a bonding between the baby and mother. ****** milk is best for your baby, and the benefits of ************* extend well beyond basic nutrition. In addition to containing all the vitamins and nutrients your baby needs in the first six months of life, ****** milk is packed with disease-fighting substances that protect your baby from illness
0 votes
by
****** feeding has always been best for babies.
0 votes
by
But it is other woman's milk not the baby's mom milk...
0 votes
by
Milk from another human is better than processed cow's milk.
0 votes
by
there is no reason not to, so what's the problem...
...