Breast milk is the perfect food needed for proper development of the mind and body of any baby. However, in certain cases, a child may be deprived of getting breast milk from her mother, such as if the mother has had a c-section and may not be producing enough milk to meet the child’s needs; she could be on drugs, where breastfeeding could be unsafe for the baby, or she could not be healthy enough to be able to breastfeed her child. The death of a woman during child birth can also be the cause of getting another woman to breastfeed the new born. In such cases, the child can be breastfed by a woman which is not her mother. Options like donated milk and wet nurses can also be considered for breastfeeding the child. Adoptive mothers are also able to breastfeed a child which is not theirs. 

Wet Nurses

The concept of wet-nursing has started becoming popular once again, especially in the West. This is when a lactating woman is hired or employed to breast feed your baby if you are not willing to feed your infant. Wet nurses are mostly hired by young moms who may not be willing to breast feed their baby.

Cross Nursing

Some women feel comfortable feeding another womans child, such as a friend or neighbour, allowing that woman to breast feed her child in exchange. This is called cross-nursing or shared-nursing and is practiced by breastfeeding mothers to become good moms while fulfilling other goals as well. However, cross nursing has its own problems and mothers should be aware of them before allowing another woman to cross nurse her child.

Breastfeeding an adopted child

Today, adoptive mothers can also pre plan breastfeeding to be able to breastfeed the baby once she arrives. Milk production can be initiated by the use of hormones as well as pumping and massaging of the breast to allow milk synthesis. Mothers who pre plan this in advance can start producing enough milk in 4 to 5 months time to be able to breastfeed a new born baby.

Donated Breast milk at Breast Milk Banks

Breast milk banks are becoming popular as more and more donor mothers are willing to donate their milk to help someone else’s child. Normally, babies that are premature have to be fed on donated milk if their mothers are not able to produce their own milk. Healthy mothers who are already breastfeeding can donate their milk to a milk bank by pumping milk out of their breasts and storing it in the freezer. Pumping can be done using a breast pump such as lansinoh breast pump, and freezing the pumped milk in bottles at home until it is picked or delivered to the milk bank.

Any healthy breastfeeding woman can donate her milk to help a newborn or mom with her milk. If your breasts are producing more milk than what your baby needs, you can save the rest to donate at the milk bank. Some women keep pumping milk from their breasts even after their child has grown older. They do this to lose weight and use their milk for a good cause at the same time. Other mothers might be pumping milk to keep it flowing before their premature baby comes home from the hospital. While waiting for the baby, mothers can use their milk to save another childs life.

Pros and Cons associated with breastfeeding another child

Although breastfeeding is a completely natural process, it has its own pros and cons in cases when women feed someone else’s child. One of the most common problems is the possibility of transmission of infections from the lactating mother to the child. As research continues, new viruses and diseases are discovered in wet nursing or cross nursing, which is why mothers have to be really careful in choosing a wet nurse if they cannot feed their child.

In cross-nursing, the breastfeeding mother usually feeds the other child along with her own. However in such a situation, she may experience a reduced supply of milk for her own child, affecting her childs health. So a cross nursing mother should always make sure that she has enough milk supply to meet the demands both babies.

Cross nursing and wet nursing are discouraged in some societies as they can adversely affect the baby emotionally and psychologically. Different mothers have different ways of breastfeeding a child. The child may not feel comfortable with the nursing woman and may become confused or frustrated, refusing to take the breast at all. This happens in babies which are a few months old and have already attached to their own mother. New born babies do not have this problem.