This was not really a case of wet-nursing, but of cross-nursing.  Two  
mothers on our ward, both asylum seekers from the same country,  
unclear how well they knew each other beforehand.
A staff midwife entered the room of the one mother, whose baby was in  
the ICU, and found her breastfeeding a term infant.  Took the midwife  
a moment to collect herself, and then she realized it couldn't be that  
mother's own baby.  The other mother was in the room too, sitting in  
the chair by the bed and the two of them were chatting happily away.   
It seems the mother of the ICU baby was terribly engorged and the  
other mother loaned her the best possible remedy for that - a strong,  
willing baby to put to her breast.
We didn't comment much or intervene at all.  We felt that to talk  
about it at length might have made them hesitant to do it again and it  
didn't seem inappropriate in any way.
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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