# New-age birth question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189 "2013-09-18T23:37:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/1 "2013-09-18T23:37:15Z")
Are there still wet nurses? That’s it! Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![iftheresaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecae2f/32.png) [@iftheresaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iftheresaway)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/2 "2013-09-19T00:05:41Z")
I don’t know if there are still wet nurses, but milk donation definitely happens for babies whose moms can’t produce enough milk. There are Facebook groups to facilitate small-scale exchanges, as well as more “official” milk banks. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/3 "2013-09-19T00:37:08Z")
I heard some women on one of those daytime talk shows talking about getting shots to prevent lactation so they wouldn’t get stretch marks. I keep my tv in the other room on sometimes for company and don’t always get the full story. I think of “Dr Oz” as a talk show. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/4 "2013-09-19T00:46:16Z")
Well just because you’re not breast feeding doesn’t mean you need a wet nurse. You can opt for formula. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/5 "2013-09-19T00:55:18Z")
According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_nurse#Current_attitudes_in_developed_countries) there are, some places: > [@](#): > > Wet-nurses are still common in many developing countries, although the practice poses a risk of infections such as HIV. In China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, a wet-nurse may be employed in addition to a nanny as a mark of aristocracy, wealth, and high status. Additionally, a woman who wants to become pregnant may wet-nurse and rear a relative (especially a poorer one’s) new-born as a mancing (Javanese language for “lure”). The mythology of Asia is full of such events. Following the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, in which contaminated infant formula poisoned thousands of babies, the salaries of wet-nurses there increased dramatically. The use of a wet-nurse is seen as a status symbol in some parts of modern China. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/6 "2013-09-19T05:01:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Well just because you’re not breast feeding doesn’t mean you need a wet nurse. You can opt for formula. And have a sickly child that is of lower intelligence. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/7 "2013-09-19T05:40:06Z")
[Article on wet nursing as a recently revived job category in (some) American household help employment agencies.](http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/01/20/the-return-of-wet-nursing/) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/8 "2013-09-19T10:16:31Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Well just because you’re not breast feeding doesn’t mean you need a wet nurse. You can opt for formula. > [@Isilder](#): > > And have a sickly child that is of lower intelligence. MODERATOR NOTE **Isilder**. Your comment is out of place in the discussion of the OP. Call it sidetracking or threadshitting–it still derails things. No warning this time. **samclem** , moderator ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/9 "2013-09-19T15:50:14Z")
I have a friend who is of Asian descent, living in the US. He and his wife employed a wet nurse so she could go back to work ASAP (she is an MD). It is a common practice among people of their social status both here and at home. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/10 "2013-09-19T16:02:42Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > MODERATOR NOTE > > **Isilder**. Your comment is out of place in the discussion of the OP. Call it sidetracking or threadshitting–it still derails things. No warning this time. > > **samclem** , moderator Not a snark, but a serious question. Why is this true of Isilder’s post but not ZipperJJ’s? Neither is on topic and both address the same subject, just on opposite extremes. I want to understand the distinction for future reference. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/11 "2013-09-19T16:49:32Z")
I’m not a moderator, but I have an answer to your question: **ZipperJJ** ’s post addressed an “excluded middle” situation with a **fact**. The post that was called out for threadshitting was stated _as though_ it were factual, whereas it has not been established as such. And establishing the factuality (or otherwise) of that statement really is beyond the scope of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-age-birth-question/669189/12 "2013-09-19T17:36:22Z")
> [@Pabitel](#): > > Not a snark, but a serious question. > > Why is this true of Isilder’s post but not ZipperJJ’s? Neither is on topic and both address the same subject, just on opposite extremes. > > I want to understand the distinction for future reference. Hmm…the way I see it, and hopefully the way the mods see it, is that I was correcting what I thought to be an incorrect assumption by the OP. Seemed to me that he thought that if a mother doesn’t breast feed then the only other option is to hire a wet nurse. He said his question arose from hearing, in passing, that some women take steps to cease their lactation and his immediate thought was “then how do babies get breast milk? Wet nurses?” and hence his question here. I was merely pointing out, in case he didn’t know, that some women opt not to breast feed at all and there is no need for wet nurses, as they choose to formula feed. I don’t know whether the OP knew this or not, but it is a true fact related to the OP’s question about what do women do when they do not lactate but have a baby to feed.