The yummy mummies of Instagram were far from the first to capture photographs of themselves breastfeeding, as these portraits of Victorian women in America demonstrate.

wet nurses

More than 150 years ago, enslaved black women were forced to feed and raise the children of their masters. Under strict guidelines black slaves were required, unwillingly, to wet-nurse these [white] children giving them priority over their own. The alternative, of course, was to be beaten or whipped. The black and white babies were not allowed to share the same breast as it was compared to whites not being able to drink from the same water faucet. The infant mortality rate during this time…

Diane Victor " Wet nurse"

This picture shows a family of wealth. The lady that is dressed with the vale is a hired wet nurse. This was very common during the time period. The knowledge of breast milk know, however the task of doing it was very time consuming so you could hire wet nurses.

The history of wet nurses

What is a wet nurse? A wet nurse is a woman who breast-feeds another woman's baby. Sometimes a wet nurse is an employee, and sometimes she is a contractor, and sometimes she is enslaved. Both rich and poor people used wet nurses until World War I.

A breastfeeding photo is once again the center of an internet debate, but this time, people have some strong opinions about a mom breastfeeding her sister's

“o man can justly doubt, that a childs mind is answerable to his nurses milk and manners.”

This naughty nurse is going viral.