Wet Nurse or Milk Bank? Evolution in the Model of Human Lactation: New Challenges for the Islamic Population

Abstract

(1) Introduction: The establishment of milk banks in the Islamic world as well as donation to Islamic families in Western countries remains a challenge in the context of human lactation. Religious reservations established since the Qur’an and regulated at the legal–religious and medical level equate milk kinship with consanguinity, which prevents donation. The aim of the study was to analyse the evolution in the model of breastfeeding and care in Islamic society. (2) Methods: The methodology of comparative history was applied, following the structural–dialectical model of care. Historical manuals, articles and databases were analysed. (3) Results: Paediatric care in medical manuals from the 10th–15th centuries is similar to that practiced by the Muslim population today, some beneficial, some harmful; the wet nurse had to follow a series of dietary habits and have a series of physical, moral and educational characteristics in order to be hired. They constituted a beginning of pseudo-professionalisation, in a domestic–family framework. Human milk was used as a remedy for different health problems. (4) Conclusions: Islamic society and nursing have to evolve towards transnational care adapted to the needs of the population.

The art of childbirth in the midwife of al-Andalus: social assessment, legal implication and health assistance in the cultural diversity of the 10th-14th centuries

“…In this case, it refers to the types of midwives according to their training, social assessment of midwives, and their regulated medical and legal requirements, which shape the pseudo-professionalization of care provided by women during the 10th -14th centuries. These re ect beliefs, knowledge, norms, legal and professional limits; (2) Functional Framework (FF), which refers to the space enabled to carry out care activities, speci cally, the domestic area, with a strongly segregated female space, and the legal area; (3) Functional Element (FE), which integrates social actors responsible for the assistance as well as the care actions they perform, in this research, the areas and forms of physical, psychological, and sexual care, always interlacing a biological and folk component, found through medical manuals and recipes of the time [37][38][39]. This research proposes six interrelated thematic blocks analysed through the structures of the DSMC [36] (Fig.…”

“…Like the milk kinship between the wet nurse and the nursing infant, which gave rise to a consanguine relationship with subsequent legal and relational implications [37,73], it occurred as a less organized relationship between the midwife and the other parties involved in the childbirth scene.…”

“…Her skills included assisting in pregnancy and childbirth, but she was also responsible for ensuring that the care of the newborn and infant health were guaranteed, either through the mother or through a wet nurse. The midwife made periodic home visits to assess that breastfeeding and early care were proceeding properly [37].…”

Establishment of the First Religiously-compliant Human Milk Bank in Bangladesh

“…In Muslim countries, the development of HMB facilities has remained constrained in number and scale. 14,[16][17][18][19][20][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] The Islamic tradition recognizes breast milk as the optimal source of nutrition for infants, but religious-ethical reservations have curtailed the enthusiasm to develop HMBs. 37 There are a few notable, pioneering HMBs in Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and Malaysia.…”

Multisensory stimulation and its effect on breast milk volume production in mothers of premature infants

“…In this case, the limited number of human milk banks aggravates the problem of neonatal care, as these centers could provide an alternative for feeding premature infants ( 10 ). Due to the difficulties in the implementation and operation of this type of basic health service, which could be attributed to the lack of an adequate government management and legal regulation in countries such as Peru ( 11 – 13 ). However, in the absence of a human milk bank, health care institutions feel the need to administer infant formula, which several studies have shown to be detrimental to infant growth and development ( 14 – 16 ).…”