Women Cross-Nurse Motherless Infant
A group of Michigan moms have stepped up to feed a baby boy whose mom died shortly after birth.
Baby Moses Goodrich was in desperate need after his mom Susan died of a rare amniotic fluid embolism. Breast is best, of course, but the hospital didn’t have any breastmilk available for the little guy. The grieving father didn’t know where to turn.
Then he got a call from a family friend, Laura Janowski, who was still nursing her 1-year-old. Professor Goodrich made the good decision,
That’s when it clicked in my head. I wanted the baby to be nursed. That’s something that Susan would have wanted.
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But it wasn’t only Ms. Janowski who stepped up to the plate. Soon, another family friend, Nicoletta Fraire, organized a group of women to breastfeed Moses.
Shortly, there were almost 20 women who signed up to cross-nurse Moses, and they set up a schedule. The two-month-old is fed at 9 a.m., noon, 1:30, 4, 6:30, and 8 p.m. At night, Goodrich feeds him expressed milk. He is entirely impressed with these women, many of whom never met the family before they were in need.
They would do it for anyone because they believe in this. They didn’t take it lightly and they don’t miss a day. It’s commitment, passion - it’s love. It’s an act of love.
Image/Story Source: Mining Journal. (Thanks also to a Much Better Blog.)
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In a culture such as ours breasts are made to seem so sexual- in a way not necessarily related to the reproductive cycle- so they think its “odd” when a woman breastfeeds in public, or nurses someone else’s child. I think this is sad. Grow up people, its just a baby, and just a breast. Yeah, formula wouldnt have killed him but he would have missed out alot of emotional and health pluses that are important to early developement.
Well said, Angela!
I mean, his father could have bought some fancy gizmo that replicated heartbeat (which, might I add, the baby was used to)and paid a hefty price for formula (which is from another species, distantly related to us!), but instead, he took these women up on their generosity.
I love that he knew that it’s what his wife would have wanted and recognized that it’s an act of love.
I love this story!
An amazing story, women have always breastfed eachothers babies, it is only in our overdeveloped, over sexualised society that we find this odd. I would have fed another womens infant, as I had an over abundance of milk. My own mother was born in WWII London, and her mother was terribly ill. My Mom was premature, and was fed by whichever mother had some spare milk, this was continued for over six months. despite my mother being very premature, she has had no health problems, which she says is due to the huge array of antibodies carried in the different milks she recieved. This was across racial and class groups as well. May the goddess bless all these women, and moses too.
That’s wonderful! I’m not sure I would personally feel comfortable nursing a non-related child but I would absolutely donate pumped milk.
This is what humans did before formula was oushed on the market turning us into a weaker speies hrray for you. wonderful women
I am always surprised when people respond to posts like this with anger. What do people think happened to infants who lost their mothers before formula was invented? They were of course breastfeed by other lactating women, there is nothing freaky, not for that matter saint-like about it.
OH COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!! god forbid the baby had formula!!! geez. for real this is the most ridiculous story i have ever read. for fucks sake.
Yeah, god forbid the baby have melamine, rocket fuel, and a bisphenol-A, especially when women are generous enough to give of themselves (like, naturally, women have been doing all through history).
Why give a baby breastmilk from another species when there is some readily available for him?
Plus, as an added benefit, he gets the closeness that he would not have otherwise received.
It’s called compassion.
Totally agree with Cate Nelson above. Samantha, you act like formula is powdered breastmilk, well its not and it should not be weighed as an option when there are loving mothers offering their milk and warmth to a child whose just lost his mother. He’s just been born, separated from mom and needs this connection in his life - not the same as a bottle from dad. sorry.