25/04/2026
Letâs talk about the original âunsolicited parenting advice.â đ¤Ťâ¨
In the 13th century, a priest named Thomas of Chobham decided to weigh in on something he had zero experience with: breastfeeding. He didnât just give advice; he used shame as a weapon.
Thomas claimed that a mother refusing to nurse her own baby was âtantamount to murderâ and that rejecting the âgift of milkâ was a kind of blasphemy. He even said mothers who claimed to be âtoo delicateâ for nursing should be greeted with âscorn.â
But hereâs what Thomasâa man with no childrenâcompletely ignored: for many medieval women, using a wet nurse wasnât a âchoice.â
Think of Dhuoda, forced by her husband to send her newborn away. Or Margaret Beaufort, a 13-year-old widow who had to flee for her life after giving birth. Even the Countess of Lincoln later wrote about how much she regretted being told not to nurse her own children.
History is full of men telling women how to be âgood mothersâ while ignoring the impossible situations those women were in. So yes, Thomas, we definitely donât need your opinion. âď¸đ
Medieval history, Thomas of Chobham, breastfeeding history, wet nursing, motherhood history, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Lincoln, womenâs history, parenting history, medieval women, historical secrets, social history, British history, 13th century, history of medicine, womenâs agency, historical storytelling, medieval life, maternal health, unsolicited advice.
