Hiring a wet nurse - the legalities?

[Lily Dust]

I would apply I couldnt give my milk away when I needed to and DD wasnt very appreciative at all

Depending on what time frame you would look at hiring a wet nurse for, Im assuming things like annual leave etc would be accrued (sp?). If perhaps, you wanted your baby fed 'longer' term, like 1 year+ I guess things like maternity leave etc would be taken into account too. Also if she was sick, do you bring in a temp wet nurse???

What a really interesting thought!!!

[HotI]

I have been reading an interesting book called "Fresh Milk: THe secret life of breasts" by Fiona Giles. It is a compilation of stories about breastfeeding and breasts.

One of the stories is of a woman who in 1987 advertised for a wet nurse to feed her daughter while she was attending uni classes. The baby wouldn't take a bottle, the Mum didn't like expressing and wasn't able to have the baby brought to her for feeds and so she wanted a wet nurse to be able to feed her. She got 4 applicants, but none of them wanted to be paid. After interviews she chose one of the women, and she wet nursed the infant for the term of her studies.

Another section in the book discusses the value of breastmilk. Based on 1992 Australian figures, an economist estimated that breastmik was worth approximately $50 a litre.

The book also stated that Norway is the only country to include human milk output in its annual reports on national food production.

[Jennie13]

just subbing

[Floweryfields]

Finding this a very interesting topic.....

[Phteven]

There is an household staffing agency in L.A. that provides them.
I think that US working conditions are rather different to Australian ones but still, it's interesting to know that there is at least one organisation providing wet-nursing as a formal employment option.

[MrsBexie]

wow... I want a wet nurse! But it kinda freaks me out too!! I don't want my baby sucking someone else's boobs! lol..

So if it is $50 a litre then they wouldn't get paid very much a day!

[Phteven]

So if it is $50 a litre then they wouldn't get paid very much a day!

That's if they are getting paid by the litre but I would assume that they are also paid for their time and unless they are a single Mum the rate of pay would also need to reflect the hardship of being away from their partner.

ETA - Since it would be discriminatory to pay people less if they were single then I guess the pay would have to be the same regardless of marital status. Even for a single Mum there might be hardship in being away from one's support network.

[LionsandBears]

If it's a contract agreement where there employment is more than x%(i forget what x =. i think it might be 80) as your wetnurse, then legally they are an employee and entitled to accrue leave, personal leave etc. You'd also have to pay super.

As for hiring a person for the product of their body, I have no idea what Australian law would be. If she produced less than the required amount etc. I suppose that's one reason why in Australia, it's generally a volunteer position, like surrogacy or being a blood donor.

Would you provide meals? Would you decide what she could or couldn't eat? Eg if bub had an intolerance?

Interesting question.