Albrithen Abdulaziz, Alfalasi Shamma
Department of Social Well-being, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Post Code 15551, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Department of Social Well-being, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.
Int Breastfeed J. 2025 Apr 28;20(1):33. doi: 10.1186/s13006-025-00727-3.
Saudi Arabia hosts more than 150 charitable institutions dedicated to vulnerable groups, such as orphan care associations that provide orphaned children with food, clothing, housing, and other care until they reach adulthood. The Al-Wedad Society for Orphan Care (ASOC) in Saudi Arabi operates a wet nursing program in which Saudi mothers breastfeed orphans in their care under specific conditions and circumstances. The program is intended to not only help the orphans survive and receive the psychological and nutritional benefits of breastfeeding but also establish kinship between the child and the members of the family providing the wet nursing and so support children's emotional wellbeing and belonging.
The ASOC wet nursing program was explored using two methods: content analysis of existing sources, such as documents and archival records, and in-depth interviews with ASOC full-time administrations and professional practitioners (n = 9). Data collection took approximately five months (January 2022 to May 2022).
The study reveals the positive values of wet-nursing as beneficial for both orphans and volunteer wet nurses. The results illustrate that the wet-nursing program has undertaken steps to ensure health and safety requirements of participants. The program elaborates many positives. First, after completing the breastfeeding program, the child becomes a relative of the whole family not only breastfed mother. Second, the breastfeeding could be a solution for many abandoned children dealing with a loss of identity as it gives them a sense of belonging to a family and community. Third, the child feels more secure and confident to interact normally with family members of the opposite sex especially upon reaching adolescence. They can communicate freely with fellow family members with fewer constraints, a greater sense of belonging, and less stigmatization than would otherwise be the case.
This ASOC wet nursing program has been successful in supporting the breastfeeding and legal belonging via milk kinship of children in alternative care families but challenges remain. More research is needed on the impact of programs such as the ASOC wet nursing program on children, alternative caregiving families and societies.
沙特阿拉伯有150多个致力于弱势群体的慈善机构，比如孤儿院护理协会，这些机构为孤儿提供食物、衣物、住所及其他照料，直至他们成年。沙特阿拉伯的阿尔韦达德孤儿院护理协会运营了一项湿哺计划，在该计划中，沙特母亲在特定条件和情形下为她们照料的孤儿哺乳。该计划不仅旨在帮助孤儿存活并获得母乳喂养带来的心理和营养益处，还意在建立孩子与提供湿哺服务的家庭成员之间的亲属关系，从而支持孩子的情感幸福和归属感。
采用两种方法对阿尔韦达德孤儿院护理协会的湿哺计划进行研究：对现有资料（如文件和档案记录）进行内容分析，以及对该协会的全职管理人员和专业从业者进行深入访谈（n = 9）。数据收集耗时约五个月（2022年1月至2022年5月）。
研究揭示了湿哺对孤儿和志愿湿哺护士都有益的积极价值。结果表明，湿哺计划已采取措施确保参与者的健康和安全要求。该计划阐述了许多积极方面。首先，在完成母乳喂养计划后，孩子不仅成为哺乳母亲的亲属，还成为整个家庭的亲属。其次，母乳喂养可能是许多身份缺失的弃儿的一种解决办法，因为这能给他们一种家庭和社区归属感。第三，孩子在与异性家庭成员正常互动时会感到更安全、更自信，尤其是在进入青春期后。与其他情况相比，他们能更自由地与家庭成员交流，限制更少，归属感更强，耻辱感更少。
阿尔韦达德孤儿院护理协会的这项湿哺计划成功地通过替代照料家庭中孩子的乳汁亲属关系支持了母乳喂养和合法归属，但挑战依然存在。需要对阿尔韦达德孤儿院护理协会的湿哺计划等项目对儿童、替代照料家庭和社会的影响进行更多研究。
