Mum Reviews...

Guest Post: Wet Nursing in the UK

Wet nursing has a long and illustrious history, but in current times the idea of feeding babies breast milk from someone other than their biological mother can seem shocking. However, a number of organizations and individuals in Britain are striving to change this idea. The United Kingdom Association for Milk Banking (UKAMB) is a charity supporting milk banking and exploring the opportunities for human mothers to feed human babies. Breast milk provides the perfect nutritional source for infants, especially those born pre-term or with medical conditions. A milk bank, similar to a blood bank, collects milk from donor mothers, pasteurises it and tests it for all communicable diseases and then provides it to babies whose mothers cannot provide their own milk.

Wet-Nurses Wanted!

Anyone out there interested in wet-nursing/ cross-feeding? I ask because I just received the following information from Anna Edwinson, a producer at Granada about a forthcoming television documentary on wet-nursing...

Channel 4 is making a documentary called Wet Nurse exploring the need of a wet nurse in today’s society. The aim is to make a compassionate, thought provoking and fair film.

Wet nursing became desolate when formula milk was invented. Now with health scares about formula milk, an increase in plastic surgery and women making the lifestyle choice of not wanting to breast feed and not wanting to use formula milk – a wet nurse has its use. This added with gay couples – especially since the law changed allowing them to adopt – could a wet nurse make a comeback and become culturally acceptable?

But of course the issue is complicated. Although the milk can be screened – how can you guarantee that the milk is safe? Furthermore – what about the bonding process between the child and its wet nurse?

We want to speak to women who can’t or won’t breastfeed and would consider using a wet nurse or women who are currently cross feeding or wet nursing.

Please email anna.edwinson@granadamedia.com to discuss further.