A
wet nurse is a woman who
breast feeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed when the mother is unable or chooses not to nurse the child herself. Wet-nursed children may be known as "milk-siblings", and in some cultures the families are linked by a special relationship of
milk kinship. Mothers who nurse each other's babies are engaging in a reciprocal act known as
cross-nursing or
co-nursing.