Wet nursing project in practice for quake-hit babies

ISTANBUL

The Family and Social Services Ministry has established a mechanism for wet nursing for unaccompanied babies who lost their families in the Feb. 6 quakes.

While there are 21 earthquake survivor babies between the ages of 0-1 under the protection and care of the ministry, only one application for wet nursing has been made officially so far, according to the information obtained from the General Directorate of Child Services.

After the earthquakes, many breastfeeding women’s requests to become wet nurses for unaccompanied babies were reflected on social media, and the ministry announced that they prepared the necessary infrastructure to ensure that this would not happen randomly and in a way that could be followed up by officials.

The mechanism for receiving and evaluating applications to become a wet nurse for quake-hit babies was established on March 20.

Since the process regarding the applications in Istanbul is still ongoing, no baby has yet benefited from the wet nurse service.

Applications can be made to the ministry’s provincial directorates. The ministry has also established some conditions for the process to be carried out effectively. In this context, the applicant is interviewed by a commission, including psychologists and child development experts.

The applicant is informed about and expected to approve the “declaration that no claim or demand will be made from the ministry or the birth family, such as milk money, priority in becoming a foster family” in the Nursing Motherhood Application Form.

Taking into account the emotional bond that may form between the wet nurse and the baby, there should not be a gap of more than 30 days between the birth date of the wet nurse’s own baby and the birth date of the child who will benefit from the service.

Applicants are asked to provide a criminal record certificate and a doctor’s report from the relevant departments of state hospitals showing that they do not have a physical disability, mental illness, or contagious disease that would harm or adversely affect the psycho-social development of the child.