Milk.

Christy sent this along with a warning:  "Your heart may melt."  Okay, you've been warned.

From the Mining Journal:  "Women step up to breastfeed motherless infant."

Charles Moses Martin Goodrich was born at 3:26 a.m. Jan. 11 at Marquette General Hospital. Eleven hours after giving birth, his mother Susan Goodrich, 46, died of amniotic fluid embolism - a rare obstetric emergency that is not age-related, Goodrich said. Moses is the Goodrich's second child - Julia was born in 2007 - and Susan's fourth. Still in shock over his wife's death, Goodrich realized he had to figure out a way to feed his newborn son...

"I wanted the baby to be nursed. That's something that Susan would have wanted."

One thing led to another when family friend Nicoletta Fraire of Marquette began organizing a group of women who may want to help feed Moses.

Read the whole thing.  I bet there are a lot of women who would step forward in a minute to help volunteer to feed a baby whose mother couldn't nurse him, if only they were asked.  I know I would.  

I do wish milk banks and such were better supplied, with better distribution, so that human milk was available to any baby whose mother can't feed him.  But even though that was the first thing Moses's dad tried to get, before turning to the community, I can't help but think that this very human, very personal, community response is better in many ways than anonymous bottles of government-approved, pasteurized and screened, donor milk obtained for a fee or paid for by insurance.  Little Moses isn't just getting real human milk (though even that is a vast improvement over artificial milk); he's being nursed.  Poor baby, to lose his mother.  Lucky baby, to receive so much human kindness.  

UPDATE:   Here.

Comments

[Cathie B]

I'd be there in a heartbeat, too. I had a friend with supply issues that I offered to help, that way. She offered when I had supply issues due to post partum pre-eclampsia. That is a heartwarming story.

Why is it we don't have more milk banks? I have read the nearest to Minneapolis is in Iowa. Aren't we supposed to be a progressive state?

[Christy P.]

I would volunteer also. Never had much success with pumping, but I think that I could nurse an extra baby at the breast.

Even when donor milk is available it is spendy, like $3 per ounce PLUS shipping. I heard about this through my LLL contacts. This isn't something that LLL can promote officially, but it is nice to see such mother to mother support.