Dear James,
Your latest book includes a character who is a wet nurse and as you know, the whole country is experiencing a shortage of baby formula right now so I have been reflecting on the approximately 7 years I spent breastfeeding my two children and thinking about what it would be like to be a wet nurse.
Breastfeeding my first baby was not easy for me. My milk was a little slow coming in and my baby was fussy and demanding. Latching was painful for both breasts for weeks and remained so for months on my right breast. My HMO provided a lactation consultant that spoke no English and tried to counsel me with hand motions and grunting sounds. Humiliating and useless. I was asked to come to the office about 72 hours after delivery. They weighed the baby, sent me to nurse in a grey office cubicle with a sliding rocker and 45 minutes later they weighed the baby again. She had lost a few grams of weight, apparently sweating with the effort of nursing but not having gotten any milk. I was devastated. Overall, her weight loss wasn't too bad, babies are expected to lose a little weight in the days after birth and quickly recover and begin growing again. They agreed I could try breastfeeding for one more day before giving formula. I spent the next 24 hours with her continuously at the breast and to my great relief she began producing wet diapers, the best indication that she was receiving fluids.