Finding a healthy, nutritious and acceptable substitute for mother’s milk has been one of the great challenges of mankind, which has occupied the minds of many inventors and creative and thoughtful parents for centuries. The result of the efforts and initiatives made in this direction is today’s powdered milk, which simply provides the necessary ingredients for the baby’s growth. But on the way to what is easily accessible today, there are many interesting and readable ups and downs.

Surveys show that before the emergence of a new lifestyle and greater participation of women in society, natural breastfeeding was considered an absolute principle and a preferred method. In other words, this option was removed only when, for various reasons, the mother’s milk was not enough to feed the baby. In this case, methods such as using animal milk or breastfeeding the baby by other lactating women were followed.

In the 18th century, in Europe and America, it became common to hire a person to breastfeed a newborn baby, and such a person was called a wet nurse. The nanny either lived in the employer’s house or the baby was handed over to her to take care of him and feed him for a certain period of time. At that time, it was believed that the quality of the milk that the baby receives will have an effect on his future, and for this reason, the selection of this group of nurses was carefully selected. For example, brunette nurses were preferred over blonde nurses because their milk was thought to be more nutritious!

It is interesting to know that in the 18th century, the demand for nursing nurses was so high, especially in Europe, that offices were created to register and provide related services. According to the rules, nurses were subjected to routine medical examinations and were prohibited from feeding more than one baby in the same unit.