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 don't see why its so bizarre. I wouldn't do it, but thats because I produce a lot of milk and don't have a need for a wet nurse. I'd rather have breastmilk, whether its from myself or another woman, than formula. Its just a better option to me. Heck, if that job is making such a comeback, maybe I'll sign up for it. :)
How bizarre that anyone would find this bizarre. I guess cows are ok but women are not?
It bothers me, but only over the bond. NO ONE else should have the breastfeeding bond with your baby, but YOU. That, to me, is something that should be considered untouchable to anyone who didn't push that baby out. And I agree with one other poster I read, what is going through this womans mind that she thinks ANYTHING is more important that feeding and bonding with, her baby?! It's one thing to not be able to breastfeed and want someone else to do it over formula, but just out of sheer "I don't wanna"?! If you don't want to take care of the baby, why are you having one? It's not a hood ornament, it's not something you can dangle in front of your friends so they think you're that much more awesome and then send it away to be with it's wet nurse, this isn't medieval times, lady.
Wet nurse sounds kind of odd... but maybe a career I'd be good at hahaha! But then again, I've also nursed my cousin's baby, and she's nursed mine but we both know what the other one lives like (i.e. no drugs...) Breast milk is amazing and our babies wouldn't take bottles so we were the only ones who could babysit eachother's babies for a long time... paying a woman you don't know is weird, though... I would want some sort of screening process to make sure my baby wasn't getting anything toxic with it.