Last night I was watching Bravo's Pregnant in Heels. In case you haven't seen it, it's all about how pregnancy concierge Rosie Pope caters to the ridiculous demands of super rich, expecting women in New York City.
Well, her latest client had a request that even surprised Rosie. This woman wanted a wet nurse. At first I thought I had heard wrong. She wanted Rosie to find some stranger to nurse her soon-to-be-born child. What century is this? All I could think was, "Yuck." Then I wondered how many people in this day and age actually seek out wet nurses and the answer shocked me.
Just to be clear, I am not talking about organized milk sharing programs. That is a great option for women who can't produce enough milk on their own. That milk goes in a bottle. This is completely different. The thought of letting your child suck on a random woman’s boobs was just too weird for me, but lots of women do it.
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The job is actually making a comeback. L.A. based agency Certified Household Staffing provides a wet nurse registry filled with over 1,000 women who breastfeed professionally. Most of these women will spend a year or more with a family. The cost? $1,000 a week.
There are also message boards dedicated to helping women find wet nurses and for lactating women who want to provide that service. There are dangers, warned Pope during the show -- you have no idea about this woman's diet, health, habits, communicable diseases. All of those things will affect a nursing baby. But I assume any parent who hires a wet nurse will look into the person's medical history -- at least I hope so.
I certainly understand the desperation that comes from wanting to breastfeed a child but not being able to. I wasn't a very good "producer" either. And this society is not very understanding about moms who do not breastfeed or give it up too quickly. You can almost feel vilified. For some people, formula is just not acceptable. But having someone nurse for you just feels so bizarre. Breastfeeding is not only about nutrients, it's about bonding with your child. Why in the world would you want some stranger to have that intimate connection with your newborn baby?
Would you pay someone to nurse your baby?
Image via sdminor81/Flickr
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Comments 102
I've been breastfeeding for 16 months. The bond me and my child share is amazing. I could NEVER imagine her having that bond with someone other then me. Also, won't the baby automatically want the "wet nurse" if that is who supplies him/her with milk? And I agree my baby sucking on a random boob, freaks me out !
I have no problem with it. It has been done for hundreds of years. It is a much better option for women who work or are unable to produce enough milk than formula is. My grandfather's mother died when he was just a few months old and his father hired a wet nurse so he would not die of starvation.
This is totally a nice option to have, for some moms, it is better a stanger's milk, from a bottle or breast, than formula.
Have no issues with formula feeding and respect those who choose to go one way or the other.
Three women other than myself have nursed my daughter. First it was my XSIL and her friend (also a LLL coach in training) and they did it to help me stop being scared to feed DD. We had a bad latch and it caused a lot of damage and pain and then she'd bite my nipple out of frustration, so they latched her on to show me that she wasn't biting anymore. Then I had my dear friend help watch DD on my wedding night. She nursed DD back to sleep so DH and I could have our first night alone together since DD was born.
My 1st option would be to breastfeed or pump myself. Second option would be donor milk in a bottle. Wet nursing would be third. That's as their complete nutrition. Once in a while is different. If my friend was babysitting and didn't mind, I would have no problem with her nursing DD. Her baby was born a mere few hours before DD.