A mother, yet not ‘mother’: the occupation of wet-nursing

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe wet-nurse hired to breastfeed an unrelated infant was herself a mother, whether her child was born alive or stillborn. Yet paradoxically her motherhood was subsumed in the nature of her employment and the existence of her own baby ignored, as she was valued only for her milk. Her workplace was the employer's home, her own home, or an institution. Occupational conditions were far from homogenous, as were the effects of her employment on her own life and that of her child. This article explores meanings of motherhood where a mother was not acknowledged as a mother, and where her welfare and that of her own child were subsumed to the interests of another mother's child. She ‘mothered’ this other child, yet could never be considered a mother to her. The personal and health repercussions for the wet-nurse and her own baby are discussed in this context.