This has been forwarded to me no less than five times by five different people today alone. If you are in any kind of breastfeeding circle, you’ve most likely already seen it. If not, it is definitely worth viewing, so I figured it was worth a post.
Click here to see a video of a hero in China who nursed nine different babies (none of which were her own) during the traumatic aftermath of the infamous earthquake. The mothers of the babies were either injured, missing, dead, or unable to nurse (it turns out earthquakes can make a mommy dry up – that’s a lot of stress.)
After I got past the initial phase of, “Oh my goodness, thank God for that woman and for the fact that as long as you have a nursing woman (who hasn’t just walked out of earthquake rubble), you never have to worry about running out of nourishment for babies!” I started to wonder how Americans would have reacted to a story like this taking place in their own country.
In a country where breastmilk cannot be stored next to formula in day care refrigerators and must be labeled biohazard materials, how would a mother respond to an offer to have her baby nursed by a stranger? And if permission had not been asked, how likely would it be that a lawsuit would have followed?
What an amazing story. It definitely (and most likely unfortunately) wouldn’t happen here in the U.S. There used to be wet nurses and it was so common. Even rich folk had their slaves nurse their children.
I recently read an article about milk banks here in the U.S. and hopped online to do some searching cause I’d never heard of such a thing. Check out this link:
http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/
baby/Breastfeeding–Human-milk-banks-360.htm
(you’ll have to unsplit it)
I thought that woman was so incredible. She clearly helped save the lives of several babies.
I would hope that if it happened in the US, people would have the common sense not to sue.
Don’t you wonder why it DIDN’T happen here in the US? Babies were literally starving to death after hurricane Katrina, yet no one offered to nurse them. What a simple solution to a life-or-death situation.
my aunt died shortly after giving birth to her 2nd child. my cousin lived with another family for her first 9 months so she could be with a wet nurse. I would gladly step forward and offer to nurse other babies because of my family’s experience. as long as I have milk, I’ll gladly share it!
What a selfless thing for that woman to do. <3
I believe that breastmilk is labled and stored seperately in daycares is because you have no idea what type of diseases, etc that woman has and don’t want to contaminate the bottles of other children. Can’t HIV, hepatitus be spread through breastmilk? I’m not sure, but this is what I learned from working in daycares.
I admire that woman, but I wouldn’t want someone else breastfeeding my child if I have no idea what they’re carrying.
I agree, Bonnie. Breastmilk is a “live fluid” and I, too, would be somewhat hesitant to accept someone else’s for my child (at least with no knowledge of her health, etc.). Babies (from HIV+ mothers) who aren’t breastfed are less-likely to contract their mother’s HIV, for instance.
-Char
what an amazing gesture!! I agree, Beth, that we live in far too litigious a society for women here to feel comfortable doing something like that. Just another case of fear and selfishness getting in the way of helping someone truly in need.
And, to answer your other question — if MY baby was starving and someone offered to feed him, I think I would praise her for the angel that she was. 🙂
It’s interesting that breastmilk is kept so separate in daycares (I didn’t go back to work until my daughter was 21 months old so I didn’t know that). When she was in the NICU her formula was kept right next to the other babies fortified breast milk, but every bottle was VERY clearly labeled as to who it belonged to. (My milk never came in due to a variety of issues, mostly severe prematurity, but also due to side effects from the high doses of the medications they used to keep me pregnant from 26 to 30 weeks when my daughter was born).
In a normal everyday situation I would not be comfortable with another woman nursing my child or donating milk. In an extreme situation such as this earthquake where the choice is let my baby starve or let another woman nurse my baby. That is a no-brainer — let the other woman nurse my child. Yes, there are the risks of communicable diseases, but I would be willing to deal with that later if I had to.
My first thought when I read the story a few days ago is how obsessed American moms are with the idea of low milk supply, is baby getting enough, etc… when the idea never came into this woman’s mind.
It doesn’t occur to our cats and dogs when they have a litter. They just lay there and nurse. 😉
Women who have an infection like HIV that can be passed on to their infant are strongly advised NOT to breastfeed, so the likelihood of pumped breastmillk being dangerous is extremely small. It shouldn’t be treated as a bio-hazard in childcare centers or hospitals.
And in the face of a natural disaster, another mother’s milk can be absolutely lifesaving to a baby whose own mother isn’t available.
The way I feel about this is shame on any mother who would allow her baby to scream for hours and die of starvation just becuase she can’t get past that fact that someone stepped up and fed her child breastmilk….basically saving her childs life.
I totally agree w/Jessica. I also totally admire that woman and think she is truly amazing. I’d do it in a heartbeat in a situation like that. I have a friend who had supply issues for a while after her daughter was born. Her sister was still nursing and pumped extra for her baby for a few months until my friend’s supply got regulated. That was so cool!
When my daughter was 8 weeks old we were living with very close friends who had a baby 3 weeks younger. A couple of times when I was at work my friend nursed my daughter to calm her down (nothing else worked – bottles, finger feeding w/the tube, paci, etc.) since she was throwing up and having blood flow issues in her arm b/c she was so upset/hungry (she was preemie and had vascular issues in her left arm for several months). I gave her my approval, and she only needed to do it two separate times, but I am thankful she was willing to do so.