wet-nursing

wet-nursing, the practice of breast-feeding another’s infant. In certain periods of history and among some social levels, wet-nursing was a paid profession. The history of wet-nursing is ancient (dating to perhaps 3000 bce) and widespread. It continued as a practice into the 21st century, though in many parts of the world knowledge of its potential dangers has made it more of a practice of necessity than of convenience or prestige.

Reasons for employing a wet nurse have not varied over the millennia. Until the improvement of infant bottles and their sterilization and the production of infant formula, it was the safest, simplest, and best option for keeping infants, who require the nutrients found in breast milk, alive. If, because of her own illness, death, or inadequate or failed lactation, a mother was unable to feed her newborn infant, a wet nurse would be employed. Often more affluent households used wet nurses as a matter of the mother’s convenience. As childbirth, motherhood, and child rearing became medicalized, the once-common practice of wet-nursing began to decline. In most developed countries—because drugs, alcohol, and viruses such as HIV and other potentially damaging matter can be passed to an infant through breast milk—the practice of wet-nursing has been largely replaced by the use of infant formula. In regions where other alternatives are scarce, wet-nursing continues to be common.

The practice of cross-nursing, where a woman breast-feeds both her child and another, is sometimes employed, most commonly for purposes of child care or babysitting.