Photo Of Woman Breastfeeding Her Sister’s Baby Sparks Wet Nursing Debate
This photo of an aunt breastfeeding her nephew has sparked a discussion about wet nursing [Photo: Facebook/The Milk Meg]
Take a look at the picture above. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the photo of a woman breastfeeding her baby. But when the snapshot was shared to Facebook it sparked an online debate, because the woman doing the breastfeeding isn’t the tot’s mother, but his aunt and the baby she’s feeding is her nephew.
Meg Nagle, a lactation consultant and blogger, shared the selfie on her Facebook page The Milk Meg earlier this week.
“My gorgeous little nephew,” she captioned the shot.
“While my sister was at work today I tried to give him a bottle of her expressed milk a few times (which he wouldn’t take). I could see he was tired so I popped him on the boob and voila, he was asleep in minutes.”
Reassuring users she had asked her sister’s permission before breastfeeding her nephew, the 35-year-old explained: “Breast was last resort because I basically have no milk left,” she wrote.
Lactation consultant Meg Nagle is still breastfeeding her 4-year-old once a day [Photo: Instagram/themilkmeg]
The mum-of-three boys, who is still breastfeeding her youngest son, 4, once a day, was expecting some reaction to the post, but within hours it had attracted over 300 largely supportive comments, with many mums sharing their own experiences of cross-feeding.
“My sister gave birth to my beautiful nephew nearly 4 years ago now! She was exhausted in hospital and he wasn’t quite latching, and she actually asked me “PLEASE! JUST FEED HIM!!!”. I felt so honoured to give him his first decent feed as a freshy and to help my poor sister get some much needed rest! Will never forget it! Bonding through boob juice!” wrote one mum.
Another woman was also keen to share her experiences of wet nursing “When my nephew was a newborn he drank all the expressed milk that was left for him while I watched him, and was crying obviously hungry. I latched him on and he was content. I even got to tandem nurse him with my son who was a year and a half. I’ll always cherish that memory.”
“I’ve nursed 4 of my sister’s kids (we were pregnant at the same time 3 times, twins for her the last time). Milk’s milk! They don’t care…why should we?” commented another Facebook user.
The post sparked hundreds of women to share their own experiences of wet nursing [Photo: Instagram/themilkmeg]
Some women were even keen to share stories of nursing children they weren’t related to.
“I nursed a friend’s baby when I was babysitting (with her okay.) Instantly put baby to sleep for a nap. Best thing ever!!! I wish it was more socially acceptable to share feeding duties. So much easier than messing with bottles!!!” one woman wrote.
But though the vast majority of the comments were hugely supportive of the post, praising Meg for raising awareness about the topic, some struggled with the concept of wet nursing.
“I personally get so anxious/angry inside just even thinking about someone else nursing my baby girl,” one woman wrote. “I don’t think it’s wrong for others if it’s something they’re comfortable with. I just personally choose to keep my that bond between my baby & myself only,” one woman wrote.
“I’m all about breastfeeding but no not someone else’s baby….” added another.
Meg with her family [Photo: Instagram/themilkmeg]
This isn’t the first time wet nursing has hit the headlines. Back in 2009, actress Salma Hayek kicked off a debate about the subject when she nursed a newborn baby during a charity visit to Sierra Leone.
“The baby was perfectly healthy, but the mother didn’t have milk,” she said at the time. “He was very hungry. I was weaning my daughter Valentina, but I still had a lot of milk that I was pumping, so I breastfed the baby.”
Talking to The Weekly about the response to her post Meg says that she’s happy that women have felt comfortable sharing their own wet-nursing experiences.
“I think people are hesitant to talk about it sometimes because they feel self-conscious and are afraid they will be judged,” she explains.
Meg hopes her post will raise awareness about wet nursing [Photo: Facebook/The Milk Meg]
But though she’s thrilled that more women seem to be open to cross feeding, Meg, who’s the author of the book Boobin’ All Day… Boobin’ All Night – A gentle approach to sleep for breastfeeding families, is also keen to make women aware of the risks. (Some experts believe breastfeeding can spread infections such as hepatitis and HIV).
“There are very clear guidelines as to the risks involved with milk sharing. It’s important to make informed decisions,” she adds.
What do you think about wet nursing? Would you breastfeed someone else’s baby? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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