The setting is the 1830s in England - a time when formula milk is unheard of and every child feeds from the breasts of his or her mother or a wet nurse in order to thrive.
Susan's mother - Mrs. Rose - is the original wet nurse, and this is also her tale as well as the many mothers or fathers who bring their little ones to her to nurse.
The book is littered with amusing accounts on pregnancy, motherhood and nursing and how each experience can go from a blessing to a burden, depending on how you look at it.
The reasons why mothers nurse or opt not to are never more truer then as they are now. For those who are healthy but chose not to breastfeed, they point to their busy work or social schedule. At least for one, she says: "But suckling a child causes a flaggy bosom which would never do."
Indeed, both a miracle and a burder is how Susan Rose herself sees her trade. But at the end of the day, it saves her, and even says that nursing is a "great tonic for a sad soul."
"Indeed, I thought to myself looking down at the little boy, they nursed me from my distress as I nursed them for their health, and I will always love them for it."
For the many other mothers in the story whose lives and that of their babies depend on a wet nurse, they share these -
"Women should not be afraid of it: it is, after all, best for babies to sup from the milk of their own mothers who carried them."
"My intention was to nurse Luke myself for a half-year and then to trade him with his brother's place, so that each might benefit from my own breast as is God's plan for us mothers, and that is what I did."
The story is gripping, and never boring. And for someone like me who doesn't want to end the page on a sad note, I turned and turned and rushed to the end.
The Wet Nurse's Tale also makes you want to count your blessings: I am filled with gratitude for being with Caitlin so that I can breastfeed her whenever and for as long as she needs.
Happy reading!
- Mommy Smiley
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