A
wet nurse is a woman who
breast-feedsBreastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk...
a baby that is not her own. These children may be known as milk-siblings and in some cultures share a special relationship. When mothers nurse each other's babies, the act of wetnursing may also be called cross-nursing or co-nursing.
Reasons for use
A wet nurse may be employed if the
motherA mother is a biological and/or social female parent of an offspring. Because of the complexity and differences of a mothers' social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to define a mother to suit a universally accepted definition.-Biological mother:In the case of a...
of a baby is unable or unwilling to breast-feed her infant. The reasons may range from illnesses such as cancer and their treatment, to temporary difficulties nursing, to drug use (
prescriptionA prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....
or illegal). Wet nurses have also been required for insufficient production of breast milk, i.e., when the mother feels incapable of adequately nursing her child, especially following
multiple birthA multiple birth occurs when more than one fetus is carried to term in a single pregnancy. Different names for multiple births are used, depending on the number of offspring. Common multiples are two and three, known as twins and triplets...
s. Wet nurses have been more common in cultures where the death of women in childbirth was high. .
Eliciting milk
A woman can only serve as a wet nurse when she is lactating. It is often thought that this means the wet nurse must have recently given birth to a child of her own. This may be the case, but not necessarily, since regular suckling on a woman's breast can elicit the production of milk via a neural reflex through production of
prolactinProlactin or Luteotropic hormone is a peptide hormone discovered by Dr. Henry Friesen, primarily associated with lactation. In breastfeeding, the act of an infant suckling the nipple stimulates the production of prolactin, which fills the breast with milk via a process called lactogenesis, in...
. In fact, some adoptive mothers have been able to establish lactation using a breastpump so that they could feed an adopted infant.
Historical use
The practice of using wet nurses is ancient and found in many cultures. Sometimes it is linked to
social classSocial classes are the hierarchical arrangements of people in society as economic or cultural groups. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political economists and social historians...
. Members of property-owning classes had their children wet-nursed, in the hope of becoming pregnant again quickly to ensure an heir. (Lactation can suppress
ovulationOvulation is the process in the females menstrual cycle by which a mature ovarian follicle ruptures and discharges an ovum that participates in reproduction...
.) Poor women, especially those who suffered the
stigmaSocial stigma is severe social disapproval of personal characteristics or beliefs that are perceived to be against cultural norms. Stigma is often based on ignorance, irrational or unfounded fears, mass hysteria, lack of education, or a lack of information pertaining to a particular person or group...
of giving birth to an illegitimate child, sometimes had to give their baby up, temporarily or permanently, and a wet nurse would look after it. In certain cultures, this could also happen through beliefs about advantages it could give to the baby. For example the Romans believed that a baby who had a Greek wet nurse would grow up speaking Greek as well as Latin.
Jewish tradition holds that the
EgyptianAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
princess
BatyaBátya is village in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary.-Famous People:* Endre Pászthory * Károly László * Dr. Zoltán Fehér * Teri Harangozó -Demographics:...
(whose place is occupied by Egyptian queen
AsiyaAsiya, wife of the Pharaoh, also known as Asiya bint Muzahim, is considered to be one of four great, noble, and pious women in Islam. Her name means one who tends to the weak, one who heals.- Islamic view :...
in Islamic tradition) tried giving baby
MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
to wet nurses, but he would only take his biological mother's milk. The prophet
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
was wet-nursed by Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb. Wet nursing was reported in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
in the time of Louis XIV, the early 17th century. Later, Napoleon was wet-nursed by a woman called Camilla. Wet nurses were common for children of all social ranks in the southern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Women took in babies for money in
Victorian BritainThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
, and nursed them themselves or fed them with whatever was cheapest. This was known as
baby-farmingBaby-farming was a term used in late-Victorian Era Britain to mean the taking in of an infant or child for payment; if the infant was young, this usually included wet-nursing . Some baby farmers "adopted" children for lump-sum payments, while others cared for infants for periodic payments...
; poor care sometimes resulted in high
infant death ratesInfant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. The most common cause worldwide has traditionally been due to dehydration from diarrhea...
.
Wet nursing has sometimes been used with old or sick people who have trouble taking other nutrition.
John Jacob AstorFor other pages relating to Astor, see John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob or Johann Jacob Astor, was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...
and
John D. RockefellerJohn Davison Rockefeller was an American industrialist. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of modern philanthropy. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and aggressively ran it until he officially retired in 1897. Standard Oil began as an Ohio...
reportedly hired wet nurses for their own use in their old age.
Stephen Pinker speculated that
Sigmund Freud'sSigmund Freud , Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology...
theories about the Oedipal complex were the result of his being raised by a wet-nurse, rather than his mother because this dissociation from his mother would have prevented the Westermarck effect from taking hold.
Current use
Following the widespread availability of artificial baby milk, or
infant formulaInfant formula is an artificial substitute for human breast milk, intended for infant consumption. The first preparations for the feeding of infants were produced commercially in 1867 by Justus von Liebig. Today, most infant formulas are based on either cow milk or soy milk...
, wet nursing went into decline after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and fell out of style in the affluence of the mid-1950s. Wet nurses are considered no longer necessary in developed nations and, therefore, are no longer common.
The act of nursing a baby other than one's own often provokes cultural squeamishness in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom where the marketing of artificial baby milk has been especially successful, although the UK government is now actively promoting breast feeding, and current advertising rules prevent artificial baby milk being shown as better than breast milk. Many countries adhere to the
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
's International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes, which was created to protect mothers and babies, and breastfeeding, from commercial influence. In countries like the U.S. that do not observe the International Code, allowing the idealization of formula, product sample distribution through hospital gift bags, formula advertising etc., there is greater cultural disapproval of breastfeeding, and wet nursing has even been viewed as
child abuseChild abuse is the physical and/or psychological/emotional mistreatment of children. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts or commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential...
. When a mother is unable to nurse her own infant, an acceptable mediated substitute is screened, pasteurized,
expressed milkA breast pump is a mechanical device that extracts milk from the breasts of a lactating woman. Breast pumps may be manual devices powered by hand or foot movements or electrical devices powered by mains electricity or batteries.- History :...
(or especially
colostrumColostrum is a form of milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy...
) donated to
milk banksA human milk bank is "a service which collects, screens, processes, and dispenses by prescription human milk donated by nursing mothers who are not biologically related to the recipient infant". There are currently eleven milk banks in North America. They are usually housed in hospitals, although...
, analogous to blood banks. The World Health Organization recommends that babies be fed, in order of preference: 1) at the breast, 2) via expressed breastmilk, 3) with pasteurized, screened, donor breastmilk from an accredited human milk bank, and as a last resort, with 4) artificial baby milk, or infant formula.
Wet nurses are still common in many
developing countriesDeveloping country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing...
, although the practice poses a risk of infections such as
HIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid,...
. Following the
2008 Chinese milk scandalThe 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a food safety incident in the People's Republic of China involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, adulterated with melamine....
, in which contaminated infant formula poisoned thousands of babies, the salaries of wetnurses in the world's most populous country increased dramatically The use of a wetnurse is seen as a status symbol in some parts of modern China .
Islamic law or
shariaSharia is an Arabic word meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. In Arabic, the collocation ‘Šarīʿat Allāh’ is traditionally used not only by Muslims, but also Christians and Jews, sometimes translating expressions such as Torat Elōhīm [תורת אלוהים] or ‘ho nómos toû theoû' '’...
specifies the permanent family-like relationships (known as
radaRadā or ridā'a is a technical term from Islamic jurisprudence meaning "the suckling which produces the legal impediment to marriage of foster-kinship". The term derives from the infinitive noun of the Arabic word radi'a or rada'a...
) incurred by people who were nursed by the same woman, i.e., who grew up together as youngsters. They and various specific relatives cannot marry, that is, they are
mahramIn Islamic sharia legal terminology, a mahram is an unmarriageable kin with whom sexual intercourse would be considered incestuous, a punishable taboo...
, and the rules of modesty known as
hijabA hijab or ' , as commonly understood in the English-speaking world, is the type of head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women, but can also refer to modest Muslim styles of dress in general. The Arabic word literally means curtain or cover , based on the root حجب meaning "to cover, to veil,...
are relaxed, as they would be for family members.
The subject is becoming slightly more open for discussion. During a UNICEF goodwill trip to
Sierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea in the north, Liberia in the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has a population estimated at 6.4 million...
in 2009, Mexican actress
Salma HayekSalma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez is a Mexican actress, director, and television and film producer. Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants....
decided to breast-feed a local infant in front of the accompanying film crew. The sick one-week-old baby had been born the same day but a year later than her daughter, who had not yet been weaned. Hayek later discussed on camera an anecdote of her Mexican great-grandmother spontaneously breast-feeding a hungry baby in a village.
Examples in fiction
- In William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
the character NurseThe Nurse is a major character in William Shakespeare's classic drama Romeo and Juliet. It is revealed later in the play by Lord Capulet that the Nurse's real name is Angelica. She is the personal servant of Juliet Capulet, and has been since Juliet was born...
had been Juliet's wet nurse. "Were not I thine only nurse, I would say thou hadst sucked wisdom from thy teat." 1.3.72
- In Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy, or Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy , was a Russian writer widely regarded as among the greatest of novelists. His masterpieces War and Peace and Anna Karenina represent in their scope, breadth and vivid depiction of 19th-century Russian life and attitudes, the peak of realist...
's War and PeaceWar and Peace , a Russian novel by Leo Tolstoy, is considered one of the world's greatest works of fiction. It is regarded, along with Anna Karenina , as his finest literary achievement....
, the character Natasha Rostov, after changing wet nurses three times, elected to nurse her children herself despite opposition from her husband, mother, and doctors.
- In George Moore
George Augustus Moore was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s...
's novel Esther WatersEsther Waters is a novel by George Moore first published in 1894.-Introduction:Set in England from the early 1870s onward, the novel is about a young, pious woman from a poor working class family who, while working as a kitchen maid, is seduced by another employee, becomes pregnant, is deserted by...
, the eponymous heroine works as a wet nurse after the birth of her son while leaving him in the hands of a baby farmer.
- In John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and the novella Of Mice and Men . He wrote a total of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories...
's novel The Grapes of WrathThe Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Set during the Great Depression, the novel focuses on a poor family of sharecroppers, the Joads, driven from their home by drought,...
, set in a time of great poverty, a woman whose baby has just died, and consequently whose breasts are engorged with milk, wet-nurses a man at the point of death, as no other nourishment is available, a reference to Roman CharityRoman Charity is the exemplary story of a daughter, Pero, who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon, after he is incarcerated and sentenced to death by starvation...
.
- In the movie Spartacus
Spartacus is a historical drama movie directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast about the historical life of Spartacus and the Third Servile War. The film stars Kirk Douglas as rebellious slave Spartacus and Laurence Olivier as his foe, the Roman general...
, CrassusMarcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded Sulla's decisive victory at Colline gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus and entered into a secret pact, known as the First Triumvirate, with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar...
captures SpartacusSpartacus , according to Roman historians, was a slave and a gladiator who became a leader in the major slave uprising against the Roman Republic known as the Third Servile War...
's wife and baby. Since he wants Varinia as a concubine, he purchases a wet nurse for her baby. Varinia rejects his offer, saying, "I sent her away: I prefer to nurse the child myself."
- In Blackadder
Blackadder is the generic name that encompasses four series of a BBC One historical sitcom, along with several one-off installments.All episodes star Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and his dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series is set in a different historical period with...
II, NursieNursie was a regular character in the second series of the popular BBC sit-com Blackadder II. She was played by Patsy Byrne and appeared in all six episodes. She also appeared in two of the Blackadder specials; Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth...
, the Queen's childhood nurse, is commonly perceived as being a wet nurse: “In the old days, it was all difficult choices. Should you have Nursie milk or moo-cow milk? Of course, it was always Nursie milk….”
- In Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley by Linda Berdoll, Elizabeth Darcy hires a wet nurse, Mrs. Littlepage, for her and Darcy's twins. Owing to the multiple birth, Lizzy and Mrs. Littlepage must share the role, much to the consternation of Mrs. Bennet, who finds it unseemly that Lizzy breastfeeds her children.
See also
- Roman Charity
Roman Charity is the exemplary story of a daughter, Pero, who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon, after he is incarcerated and sentenced to death by starvation...
, works of art based on the story of a daughter feeding her dying father.
- Milkmaid
A milkmaid or milk maid is a girl or woman employed to milk cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese...
- Mrs. Pack
Mrs. Pack was a wet nurse to the child William, Duke of Gloucester ; she was believed indispensable to the boy's health, and because of that, came to exercise considerable control over the household of his mother, the future Anne of the United Kingdom...
, a wet nurse to the child William, Duke of GloucesterPrince William of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Gloucester was the only child of Prince George and Princess Anne of Denmark and Norway to survive infancy...
(1689 – 1700).
- Milk kinship
Milk kinship, formed by nursing by a non-biological mother, was a form of fostering allegiance with fellow community members. This particular form of kinship formed did not exclude particular groups, such that class and other hierarchal systems did not matter in terms of milk kinship...