you down with opb?-- other people's breastmilk

this article talks about the changing patterns (past and present) of breast feeding infants, and specifically about someone other than the biological mother doing the breast feeding.

the article mentions wet nurses, the re-rise of breastfeeding in the us, and cases where it's not possible--e.g. adoption. the article goes on to mention something i've thought about before, but never heard a name applied to--cross-feeding (babies breastfeeding from multiple women).

now, while most of the women mentioned in the post seemed to be doing it more for reasons such as scheduling, but the reason i thought of it was slightly different. when i heard that mothers pass antibodies which help to build the immune systems of infants through breast milk, i immediately thought 'cool, does that mean that if i would have been breastfed by say thirty or forty different women (each with their own various immunities) that i'd have an immune system like wolverine?

just goes to show you how differently people perceive situations.

--cid

0wn yourself