Women Cross-Nurse a Motherless Baby

Monday, 06 April 2009

Women Cross-Nurse a Motherless Baby
by Mama Fox
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. 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."

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.

These women are strong advocates of breast feeding. "They would do it for anyone because they believe in this. They didn't take it lightly and they don't miss a day," Fraire said.

Goodrich added: "It's commitment, passion - it's love. It's an act of love."

In the beginning, Goodrich and Fraire discussed whether they should have the women tested to be sure they are healthy. In the end, "we just decided to trust them," Fraire said. "The women deeply care about their health and the health of their babies."

Moses has not been sick since he was born. "He's getting the strongest mix of antibodies in the county," Goodrich said. But being fed and healthy aren't the only benefits for Moses. "It's about the nurturing aspect, being held. He is happy. He rarely cries."

Goodrich hopes to be able to keep Moses nursing until he's a year old. Here is the Article.

This is such an awesome story! If I knew I could help out a family this way I would.
What do you think about this story? Would you help breastfeed a baby if you were needed?

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Awesome in many ways.
- 4/6/2009 6:07 PM
- Schristian@xanga (message)
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that is so amazing!
- 4/6/2009 6:10 PM
- alterEGGO@xanga (message)
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When I was born, I was adopted, and my adoptive mom wasn't lactating, so I didn't get too much breast milk. However, a lady that was lactating at the time, insisted on breastfeeding me.
This baby will have seen more breasts than most 40 year old guys.
- 4/6/2009 6:13 PM
- Undercover_Librarian@xanga (message)
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That's kinda weird, but I mean "different in a good way" -- mostly because people want to breastfeed their own kids, I think. I think it's very inspiring. Most animals are biologically wired to care for their own clan or group, but it's nice that we as humans can break that programming to extend our care to others outside of that group.
- 4/6/2009 6:14 PM
- Delphiki@xanga (message)
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That is Awesome!!!!!
- 4/6/2009 6:20 PM
- Kristenmomof3@xanga (message)
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This is beyond awesome! I wish more women felt this strongly about breastfeeding!

@Undercover_Librarian@xanga - That is too funny! ...and kinda true...
- 4/6/2009 6:25 PM
- seriously_meredith@xanga (message)
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Very awesome!
- 4/6/2009 6:26 PM
- Baby_Storie@xanga (message)
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I think I'm in a birth club with one of those nursing gals, or the exact same situation has played out elsewhere in the country recently. I think it's so sweet and awesome for all involved.
- 4/6/2009 6:31 PM
- LannaM@xanga (message)
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I think that's awesome!
- 4/6/2009 6:54 PM
- Michelynne@xanga (message)
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totally. I would do it (so long as JJ didn't know I was doing it, He'd get jealous.)
- 4/6/2009 7:18 PM
- Erika_Steele@xanga (message)
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A new born needs different breast milk than a 1 year old. The breast milk in really thick and almost a yellowish color for the first few weeks, maybe even month. and as the baby gets older the breast milk would get thinner and have less of the overall "dosage" of the needed nutrients. Regaurdless of that tidbit of info it's great people helped out with the new baby :) It's really great that he hasn't been sick or have any kind of reaction since so many different people are nursing him. :D
- 4/6/2009 8:28 PM
- MaRiSsA_StOuGh@xanga (message)
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i'd definitely do it. if i died i think it would be wonderful if one of my friends would nurse my lil guy. he is 4 wks old and i want him to have the milk that is best for him.
- 4/6/2009 9:02 PM
- special_destiny@xanga (message)
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I would definitely breastfeed a baby in need if I could. Breast milk is essential.
- 4/6/2009 10:46 PM
- raved@xanga (message)
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It makes that saying "It takes a village to raise a child"a reality. Love this article, and like I said when you posted this before, I would totally do that too.
@MaRiSsA_StOuGh@xanga - It's true that breastmilk does change as the baby gets older, but even still, any human milk (as long as the woman cannot pass on disease to the baby) is better for a motherless newborn than formula.
- 4/7/2009 12:59 AM
- MommyGEM_RN@xanga (message)
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@Delphiki@xanga - But, being hard-wired to care for our own clan applies to even a widespread, not-familiar-group...

What a wonderful, inspiring, beautiful story. this papa is smart and his child is lucky.

what's a shame is that as a society we even have to question how 'acceptable' this is. It should be the norm.
- 4/7/2009 12:17 PM
- brownalpaca@xanga (message)
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@brownalpaca@xanga - I think it's typically family first, everyone else second. If someone were dying of thirst, you're not going to give water to a stranger first and then your child second.
My point (again and in more detail) was that it's nice that, as humans, we go so far as to adopt children from the other side of the world, donate food or money to people we've never see, and then there's this story of women who are volunteering to nurse a child whose family they don't even know.
Animals will help those within their group, but we can extend our care to those we've never even met.
- 4/7/2009 1:03 PM
- Delphiki@xanga (message)
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I think it is great that these women were willing to do this. It is definitely something I would be willing to do for someone if I found out there was a need.
- 4/7/2009 3:17 PM
- sidewayslife@xanga (message)
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Wow, this is so wonderful!!! I would definitely do the same if the need presented itself!
- 4/7/2009 4:19 PM
- alaskamommy@xanga (message)
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This is an inspiration, and wonderful "publicity" for breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is not the easiest thing in the world to get the hang of, and so many women are discouraged from it. I'm glad you shared this story!
- 4/7/2009 6:55 PM
- odetocorny@xanga (message)
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What an amazing story! I would have no hesitation in offering to breastfeed someone else's baby, whether or not I knew them. I've often wondered if our local hospital stored milk, but I guess they have health concerns about that.
@Undercover_Librarian@xanga That is hilarious to think of all the bobos (as my 4 year old calls them) that baby has seen! When we were fostering a baby, I would have dearly loved to feed her, especially as she was intolerant to normal formula.
Great post!
- 4/7/2009 7:55 PM
- Citril@xanga (message)
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@MaRiSsA_StOuGh@xanga - Yes the breastmilk does change over time...but any breastmilk is healthier for the newborn than formula would be.
- 4/7/2009 9:02 PM
- Amyld@xanga (message)
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This is amazing & of course I would!
- 4/7/2009 10:23 PM
- spanz@xanga (message)
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I absolutely would. :)
- 4/7/2009 10:24 PM
- Abibigail@xanga (message)
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@Schristian@xanga - You're just jealous he gets so much boob action... aren't you?
- 4/7/2009 10:47 PM
- ScreamingYourSecrets@xanga (message)
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that's... odd....
- 4/8/2009 12:34 AM
- XxRainyxMondayxX@xanga (message)
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About the Author

From: mamafox
Name: mamafox
About Me: Hi y'all, I'm Mama Fox! I'm a young, optimistic homeschooling mama of three boys. This is all about our adventures and at times misadventures of raising little men in today's world and pretty much whatever else is on my mind. :)