Wet-Nursing in Antebellum South
This term describes the forced labor where enslaved women breastfed white children instead of their own.
What is wet-nursing?
This storage method ensures that pumped breast milk retains its quality during storage.
What is refrigeration or freezing?
Breast milk provides this type of immunity to infants.
What is passive immunity?
Modern advice suggests feeding babies on demand rather than sticking to this type of schedule.
What is a fixed feeding schedule?
One major reason white women used enslaved wet nurses was to avoid these perceived impacts on their bodies.
What are changes to their breasts
To avoid contamination, pumped breast milk should be stored in these types of containers.
What are BPA-free plastic or glass containers?
This hormone is responsible for milk production in breastfeeding mothers.
What is prolactin?
This 20th-century innovation drastically reduced the need for wet nurses.
What is formula milk?
This emotional consequence often resulted from enslaved mothers being forced to wet-nurse white children instead of their own.
What is the grief of neglecting their own children?
A comfortable and private space for this activity is essential for working mothers.
What is pumping breast milk?
The "let-down reflex," which helps milk flow during feeding, is controlled by this hormone.
What is oxytocin?
Breastfeeding can burn up to this many calories per day for nursing mothers.
What is 500 calories?
Wet-nursing created this complex type of relationship between enslaved women and the white families they served.
What is physical closeness but social and racial distance?
When freezing breast milk, this is the maximum time it can safely be stored in a standard freezer.
What is six months?
This benefit of breastfeeding reduces a mother's risk of developing certain diseases later in life.
What is a lower risk of breast and ovarian cancer?
This is the recommended amount of time mothers should breastfeed exclusively for the best health outcomes, according to major health organizations.
What is the first six months?