🤱 Wet nurse
A historical role: a woman who breastfed another woman's child.
A wet nurse was a woman who breastfed another woman's child. This is a very old role, found in many societies. Wet nurses are mentioned in the Bible and in ancient Greek myths.
In ancient Rome, wealthy families had wet nurses living in the house. Some women worked as wet nurses for pay. The Roman doctor Soranus gave detailed advice on how to choose a good wet nurse. An Egyptian receipt from 187 AD for paying for such services has survived. In 18th-century Paris, wet nurses were hired very often. By one estimate, in 1780 only about a thousand of the 21,000 children born were fed by their own mothers.
A wet nurse could save a child's life if the mother died in childbirth or had no milk. But in the 19th century, doctors began writing more about the dangers of this custom, and it started to fade. It was replaced by mothers feeding their own babies and by bottle feeding. Reliable baby formulas in the 20th century made wet nurses almost unnecessary. Today, human milk banks play a similar role. There, donor milk is tested, pasteurised and usually frozen, and then given to babies who need it.
How it connects to milk
🤱 Wet nurse → — → 👶 Child ← used in ← 🥛 Milk
Links
- Feeds
- ❤️ Breastfeeding
- Who this is
- 👶 Child, 🧑 Human
- Part of
- 🧑⚕️ Healthcare and nutrition jobs
Frequently asked questions
What is a wet nurse?
A woman who breastfeeds another woman's child. In the past, it was a common job.
Why did wet nurses disappear?
19th-century doctors began warning against the custom, and in the 20th century reliable baby formulas appeared.
What replaces wet nurses today?
Human milk banks: donor milk there is tested, pasteurised and frozen.
Similar
🧑⚕️ Pediatrician · 🧑⚕️ Dietitian · 🚛 Milk tanker driver · 📋 Freight forwarder · 🍦 Ice cream maker · 👷 Animal scientist