http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/01/marquette.moms.nursing.moses/index.html
There's something very special about providing the nurishment for your own baby, but I would think it has to be equally rewarding to help another baby (maybe even more in some ways, like in this case, to know you are granting a mother's dying wish for her child). I posted a clip of Selma Hayek nursing a hungry little newborn baby under the post "Celebrities Breastfeeding" and can only imagine how satisfying it would be to comfort, nurish, and bond with a baby in need, providing him or her with some of their most basic needs.
When I was nursing Ben while living in North Carolina, one of my UNCC classmates became very ill while pregnant. It turned out that she had leukemia and began chemo treatment while pregnant. They worried about how it would affect the baby and as soon as the baby was developed enough to survive outside her mother's belly they did an emergency c-section.
My friend, who knew how much I fought for and believed in breastfeeding, called me to tell me that the doctors want to give her pre-mature baby daugther breastmilk. The little baby girl was too weak and tiny to actually nurse, but they used a tube to feed her a few drops of breastmilk. The hospital had a small breast bank, but eventually they would switch her to formula unless my friend decided to purchase breast milk (which is very expensive) or if she could collect donated breast milk. She told me she would never ask this of anyone else (because breastmilk is a very personal thing, and if a nursing woman drinks caffeine, smokes, uses any medications or drugs these things pass through the breast milk) but she knew how strict I was with my dairy free diet and asked me if I would donate some breast milk for her baby. "Of course," I responded automatically and began pumping that day. I was more than happy to do it. To be honest, though this might sound gross or weird, I wished I could hold that baby and put her right to my breast, but the baby and my friend were in South Carolina getting treatment in a hospital over 4 hours away from me, and my nerves couldn't stand listening to my colicky baby scream in the car the entire drive there and back, so I pumped 2 oz at a time and froze them.
By the time the bottom drawer of my freezer was overflowing with bags of my milk, my friend's baby was already transitioning onto formula and neither of us had a way to get my milk to her, a place to store it, and utilize it (and because STD's can be transferred through breastmilk, it's best to boil it and all hospitals that accept donated breast milk screen it and heat it to kill any bacteria). Although many of the nutrients are lost after this heating process (just like how vegetables are best raw) it's still perfectly proportioned as far as the ratios between fats, proteins, carbs, sugars, water, etc.
At any rate, after a couple months I had to accept that I wasn't going to be able to help my friend's baby and it was pretty painful to throw away all that milk, but the baby was recovering beautifully and that was all that mattered.
I remember feeling helpless as my friend suffered through her treatment, and how when she asked for my milk I finally felt like I would be able to do something grand, even though it didn't work out in the end. I can only imagine how amazing it must have been for these women to be there for this family. This story is a beautiful example of how women should come together and offer support to one another.
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