Woman Breastfeeds Orphaned Babies in China!
and it makes the news! And she’s a Hero!
Picture (thanks Eva A, Ann S, Barbara B, Jennifer N, Robyn C, Julinda A, Lori F, Jessica D, Maria R, Yvette Y, and last but not least, Jessica G!)
China’s Breastfeeding Hero
Chengdu, China - A Chinese policewoman is contributing to the country’s massive earthquake relief effort in a very personal way - by breastfeeding eight babies.
A newspaper in Chengdu, the capital of quake-hit Sichuan province, devoted a special page to the 29-year-old woman, calling her a “hero”.
The woman from the quake-ravaged town of Jiangyou has just had a child herself, the Western Urban Daily said.
She is nursing the children of three women who were left homeless by the quake and are too traumatised to give milk, as well as five orphans, the report said.
The babies who lost their parents have been put in an orphanage which does not have powdered milk, it said.
Yet, REALLY when you think about it, isn’t the fact that it’s NEWS the real story here? In times of disaster, when babies are orphaned, what have women always done? They’ve stepped in and nursed the babies, of course. The World Health Organization recommends Breastfeeding, first; pumping milk, second; using donated milk, third; formula, fourth. They don’t come right out and say it, but the ‘donated milk’ thing is a polite way of saying another mother steps up and feeds the baby (only in industrialized countries and optimal conditions would you have milk banks, refrigeration, and bottles) So isn’t it weird that it’s so uncommon that it’s considered newsworthy? And Globallynewsworthy at that? Doesn’t it say a LOT about our culture that we find it so amazing? The Heroine says herself “I didn’t think of it much, it’s a mother’s reaction” and later “I think what I did was normal…this was a small thing, not worth mentioning.”
Although that’s true, on the face of it, Jiang Xiaoojuan, like all mothers who have fed babies who are not their own, and all mothers who have gathered up orphans and helped them survive, and all mothers who have stepped up and mothered during horrible disasters, IS a hero. And she puts a lovely face on it, she stepped in and fed 9 small babies and ANYTIME the commonplace acts of motherhood are elevated to heroism in the news we should applaud. Here, Here!
Love,
Heather
Kat_MomofMonkeys said,
May 24, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
she’s a hero in my book… I know that it’s a matter of demand increasing supply… but nine at once… WOW… someone give that woman a medal and then use the story for commercials to promote breastfeeding.
msrlmoss said,
May 25, 2008 @ 1:27 am
In another newspaper that reported the same story there was also a story, much sadder, about finding a body of a Mum in the rubble with her three-month old baby alive and still suckling at her Mum’s breast. Seems the last thing the Mum did before she died was to lift her top and nurse her baby so the baby would at least have a chance at life, and some comfort in its final moments if not.
I cried buckets.
bunnywhack said,
May 25, 2008 @ 1:36 am
yes its natural but 9 at once wow thats something else well done her very much a hero
Sanity8080 said,
May 25, 2008 @ 6:13 am
Wow…that is effing AWESOME….but I do agree….I would like to think that anyone else in that situation would have nursed the babies, but I know in America, sadly, it would not have happened. In the US, Enfamil and Similac would have donated ready to feed crap and then patted themselves on the back for their effing generosity….
And thank you msrlmoss….Now I’M bawling
mamaof5 said,
May 25, 2008 @ 10:17 am
I think in America people would have been agast and possibly grossed out by it… disease you know! I think everyone thinks it is great here because it didn’t happen here. Hell you breastfeed a two year old here and you get crap for it in alot of parts.
I think what that woman did was down right amazing and beautiful and inspiring. RIGHT ON! It maybe what “every” mom would do… but I don’t think they would here. Goddess bless her. That milky mama
Heather in Tucson
amyphilo said,
May 25, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
This story totally made me cry. You’re right, it’s sad that this is such a big deal to the media, but it’s more sad that the reason it’s such a big deal is that so few women breastfeed, and most think they can’t even manage to feed one baby much less 9. The formula companies have already won in a major way and the babies are paying the price, some with starvation and others with illness and death.
wiffersnapper said,
May 25, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
That woman must be a goddess… and her reward surely awaits. I hope that someday those babies understand the tremendous gift she is giving them.
sewathomemama said,
May 25, 2008 @ 7:59 pm
truly awesome & inspiring. i hope one day we are all given such an opportunity to step up & doing something amazing for humankind. she’s right, it was such a small, natural thing to do, but it is worth mentioning to those mothers she stepped in for. if a woman did something like that for me, i would want to sing her name from the rooftops!
and the mother’s dying act of breastfeeding - completely throws me. how sad & sweet.
jeanette said,
May 26, 2008 @ 2:14 pm
I’d feed as many babies as I could! I have a hard time NOT breastfeeding any baby that I hold when it cries lol! Here in the US they’d probably balk about it because of there being some kind of liability issue with it. What about hurricane Katrina? There should have been something like this happening then. I agree though, a huge formula company would donate formula and people would feel so good about it. Blech!
Kat_MomofMonkeys said,
May 26, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
I totally agree… where were the breastfeeding mothers showing up at the rescue centers offering to at least donate milk in bottles, if not nurse the breastfeeding babies whose moms were lacking supply or were not there and the formula fed babies who weren’t getting fed?
I don’t even think times like that you can debate the choice to formula feed (and who knows if a few might have been unable to breastfeed)… you just have to do what you can to help.
I found it shocking that they weren’t rounding up mothers to AT LEAST pump.
If they wanted to boil it first, go ahead, but my goodness… with no water to mix formula, my first thought was… okay… so why are the military not going to all the surrounding states getting nursing mothers to help out (and bring their own babies along so they don’t go without, of course)
I guess it’s just the society we live in.
I remember when my first one was born and the twins sharing the NICU with him were having problems latching on and the mom had supply problems. I offered to give her some of what I was pumping and that I was making so much if she couldn’t nurse them, I’d be glad to give her breastmilk in bottles (I didn’t want to go ahead and offer to nurse them as that would have been probably too big a step to start off, especially with her trying to nurse them. I thought it would be better than what she was doing… supplementing with formula) (I only needed to at night, but was getting 3-4x what he was eating) and she looked at me like I was nuts and said that was what the formula was for.
I just kept thinking that formula couldn’t be good for babies who were supposed to be learning to breastfeed… especially when they were the same gestational age and size as my son… and that preemie milk would have been best.
Eris said,
May 27, 2008 @ 12:41 am
Well, this article on the LLL website suggests that, in fact, there was shared breastfeeding going on in the aftermath of Katrina:
http://www.llli.org//NB/NBMayJun06p114.html
Don’t sell Americans *too* short, is all.
wiffersnapper said,
May 27, 2008 @ 3:24 am
When my daughter was in the NICU, I was in the same boat as Kat_Mom- making FAR more than my daughter needed. I said, half-joking, to one of the lactation consultants, that I’d be willing to give it someone else if they needed it. Sure enough, she found a woman who wasn’t making enough, and I wound up giving her my “extra” for about six weeks! I don’t know how much longer that baby got breastmilk, but at least it was six weeks longer than it would’ve been without my milk!
janaki said,
May 28, 2008 @ 11:34 am
You are absolutely right! It SHOULD be commonplace! And I could absolutely imagine doing the same thing if I were in that situation! Though 9 babies sounds like it’d be really tough! Wow, I can’t even imagine having the supply for that! She must’ve been up 24/7 at that point!
julie said,
May 28, 2008 @ 4:57 pm
Aw, the “just thinking about you” comic is so sweet. I love how you keep putting my life and feelings into words and pictures. Do you write poetry too?
jeanette said,
May 29, 2008 @ 6:08 am
It often happens to me too that I’ll be thinking of breastfeeding or thinking that it’s been a while since we last breastfed, and sure enough, my son will wake up or run over to me. Speaking of which, I bet he’ll wake up soon now!
esper_d said,
May 29, 2008 @ 7:35 pm
yay!! good for her
amyphilo said,
May 30, 2008 @ 1:18 pm
I also found the “I was just thinking of you” comic really sweet! The same thing happens to me all the time!