Reflections | China’s imperial wet nurses: how these mothers often became a power behind the throne

A friend’s sister is expecting a baby boy and has put out feelers for potential nannies who can help her with the care of the newborn. She does not want a domestic helper who takes care of the child in addition to doing housework, but a dedicated carer whose job is to tend to the baby’s every physical need, except to suckle him from her own bosom.

It may sound off-putting today, but before the invention of formula milk, in the 20th century, wet nurses were employed to breastfeed babies whose mothers were unable or unwilling to nurse their own child. Many Chinese still use the word nai ma (literally “milk mother”) to refer to modern-day nannies, an anachronistic job title that is patently incompatible with the job description.

Given the nature of the work, it stands to reason that only the wealthy were able to afford wet nurses. In the households of the titled and privileged in China, it was common for infants to be breastfed by women who were not their biological mothers.

The engagement of wet nurses for imperial princes and princesses was, as with all things royal, governed by strict protocol. The age, appearance and health of the candidates were criteria for selection, as were the viscosity and colour of their milk.

During the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), for example, an “Office of the Breasts”, managed by the chief eunuch of the imperial household staff, was situated just outside the imperial palace, where 40 potential wet nurses were housed. Another 80 were on standby in their own homes. All candidates must be married, be between the ages of 15 and 20, and have “regular features”. Curiously, a wet nurse in the imperial household would suckle a prince if she had just given birth to a girl, and a princess if her own baby was a boy.