FROM “WET NURSES” TO “NURSING MOTHERS”: DECOLONIAL REFLECTIONS ON THE PRACTICE OF “CROSS-NURSING”

Abstract

The article deals with the practice technically called “cross-nursing”, that is, when a woman breastfeeds a baby that she did not give birth to. The reflection takes as its starting point the experience of six women from the Rocinha favela (RJ), who breastfed or had their children breastfed by others. “Cross-breastfeeding” has been contraindicated by the Ministry of Health since the 1990s, due to the possibility of disease transmission through breast milk, especially the HIV virus. The research points out that the regulations, however, did not promote the interruption of the practice in the favela, where sharing child care is common. In this scenario, cross-nursing can be configured as one, among other activities, that integrate care. In dialogue with the decolonial theoretical framework, the article also proposes a comparison with the experience of so-called “wet nurses”, highly disseminated in Brazil during the slavery period.