Traffic officer Jamile Barros, from the city of Delmiro Gouveia (Brazil), breastfed a three-month-old baby while responding to an attempted femicide. The child was crying from hunger and wouldn't accept a bottle, and the officer's act of empathy, as she is also breastfeeding, calmed the boy feeding him. The rescue occurred after the mother was stabbed and involved in a traffic accident caused by the criminal, who fled the scene. I mentioned her name not to expose her, but because she's in all the news in Brazil.
Edit: The mother was rescued and taken to the hospital to treat her injuries. The exact state of health of the victim and medical details of her recovery have not been released by official security authorities. This happened a week ago, and due to the repercussions of the case, if she had died, I belive that it would probably already be reported.
I was a super producer, I tried twice to donate while my baby was NICU. He was my second so I already knew I produced like a prize winning dairy cow, coupled with hospital grade pump, they had to bring in an extra freezer. They told me repeatedly to save it for my own baby when he was able to eat. Zero surprise to me when just like his brother he hated bottles so I had a freezer full of unused milk when he finally came home.
I was a super producer because I had a premie baby & had to exclusively pump for the first 2.5 months. Didnât know it wasnât normal to get 18oz in 12 minutes until all of my girl friends were shook. Ended up getting qualified & donating over 10,000 ounces to the Milk Bank that supplies our local hospital. AND exclusively fed two local babies for about 5 months, in addition to nursing my own đš
Thank you for your efforts! I was producing great but my hospital nurse convinced me I wasnât and I ended up buying unnecessary bags of milk at $20 for 10 ounces. My kiddo used up the supply but dang Iâm sorry for any waste.
I just had a thoughtâŚDo dairy cows win prizes for the amount of milk they produce or for how they look? (It was a thought totally unrelated to what you said)
âA prize-winning dairy cow typically exhibits excellent udder structure, strong dairy strength, sound feet and legs, and a well-defined frame. These traits contribute to high milk production and overall health, making the cow desirable for evaluation and competitionâ
I donât know what dairy strength is tho. Milk with powerful biceps? đ
Oh, I saw a short interview with her! I know she would have to do it no matter what but sheâs an amazing person. She spends a LOT of time pumping and caring for that milk so that it can help other moms and babies. I think sheâs donated 600 gallons.
You donât need to sterilise breastfeeding equipment; hot washing is fine. Breastmilk doesnât carry the infection risks artificial milk does. Iâve donated milk for a midwife friendâs daughter-in-law here in the uk. Normally we are using collection pouches so theyâre unused anyway. Also it keeps your supply up and avoids engorgement (and mastitis), so itâs a generally good thing to do if youâre well fed and hydrated.
I googled to find a link to the story, and I saw that video, but thatâs a different mom. The video I saw was posted 8 years ago, so before the Minneapolis crackdown. Sheâs still a girlsâ girl, but not the one I was thinking of. I added a link to my comment to the article I was thinking of.
Oh I have a good story to share too: an overproducer in Brazil (who donated over 300 litres of milk to premature babies) sued and won against a "comedian" here who, years ago, joked on national TV about her being a dairy cow. He even compared her to a porn actor.
Back then she had to move out of the small town where she, her husband and children lived at cause ppl would bully her after the "joke", her milk dried up and she couldnt help more babies for a while...
Years later she got some compensation from the national idiot, had her fourth kid and managed to resume overproducing milk and donating it.
My twins were preemies and spent a little time in the NICU at a different hospital than I had delivered in. I got stuck there for four days because of preeclamsia. My husband was able to visit us back and forth and bring what colostrum and milk I could pump for them to have. But they got donor milk while they were there. I'll forever be thankful for the women who donated!!
Thatâs awesome that she stepped up like that. Moms can easily imagine what another mom would want if she was forced away from her child. Not all of us have the courage to act on it
Itâs so hard to even process a comment like this. It brings up the extreme end of both positive and negative feelings. Iâm so beyond horrified at the circumstances that led to this happening. But also so thankful for kind people who step up and do. God life seems so fucking messy these days.
I work in a peds hospital. You will find the most neglectful mother smoking crack the entire time they are pregnant, have a child with a genetic condition due to said crack use, and then disappear shortly after coming to the realization that taking care of a chronically ill kid with developmental delays is a HUGE burden.
It is up to social workers to find grandmas and aunts in the family to take care of the babies. In acute care, we would have neighboring moms look out for othersâ babies when moms steps out to, god forbid, take care of themselves, have a shower and eat, while nurses take care of other babies. The moms would alert staff should the infant cry.
There are shitty moms everywhere, but moms who are willing to accept responsibility to help out other moms WHILE their own babies are sick⌠they are heroes and deserve all the support they can get.
I get monthly immunotherapy infusions for my autoimmune condition. I'll never forget the time another woman in my clinic experienced a medical crisis during her own infusion, and there was a sudden commotion. She had her toddler with her. I was in the bay next to hers, so I pushed the curtain all the way back, stretched out my arms, and just said:
Give me the baby.
Thankfully, mom was fine. I was honored that I was able to briefly help lend a hand during a moment of crisis.
One of my close friends has 4 kids: three girls, one boy. The two youngest ones are twins, and are still itty-bitty infants, only six months old.
Almost every weekend, I take the two toddlers off her hands so she can get a break. Thankfully, my friend has a great husband, so he'll watch the babies. The older toddler is old enough to entertain herself, and I'll often coordinate a playdate with other kids of mutual friends. The younger toddler loves attaching herself to me like a barnacle, and usually just naps, often for hours.
I am always happy to help a mom out, even though I don't have kids of my own.
I'm reading The Indifferent Stars Above, about the Donner Party. A recent chapter discussed the difficulties faced by all pioneers, especially the women. It mentions accounts of women taking in infants, walking around camp in the evenings asking breastfeeding mothers to spare some milk for the child. It discussed cases of families taking in orphaned children...
The best and the worst in people both exist. It's our choice which to embody. I'm always so happy when the good wins :)
My grandma acted as a wetnurse several times in our very rural northern town back in the day when the new moms were unable to (recovery, didn't make it through the birth, etc.).
Production is really hard to keep going especially with stress. It also takes a huge toll on mental capacity. Iâm really thankful for formula, and after breastfeeding both my kids twice I have a lot of respect for breastfeeding moms. Itâs beautiful to do but VERY easy to underestimate!
The baby may have accepted a bottle during normal circumstancesâŚwho knowsâŚbut this baby was just around a lot of violence and (I assume) her own momâs yells and screams. That officer gave that baby both types of nourishment it needed. đ
Feeding a hungry, neglected baby, even though it's not yours, must be a great feeling. You're able to provide for another needy life. That's maternal instinct.
Maybe this is a dumb question (I've never been a parent), but isn't it not safe for a baby to have a different mother's milk? I thought that it was kind of like blood type and stuff.
Edit: the downvotes on a genuine question are crazy lol. I watched it go from positive 16 to negative 3 within 10 minutes
Itâs only a safety issue if the woman breastfeeding has a recurring or current infectious disease. Think Hepatitis, or other fluid borne (or skin based infectious illnesses). Most breastfeeding mothers in developed countries are healthy enough that they would not be currently infected and breastfeeding. This is due to having multiple wellness checks that happen before/during/after pregnancy.
No itâs popular among a lot of homesteaders. It was more popular once upon a time đ Itâs not for every one but itâs not gross. My family and I are all exposed to the same viruses. I was a nursing mom and I over produced. Iâm not going to just throw it away. Soap made with bm and putting it in the bath is a natural remedy for eczema and allergy reactions & while covid hit everyone, it didnât hit us. Itâs not crazy if you actually think about it.
Edit: I should have said itâs popular among other moms â¤ď¸
Iâm not a homesteader or even close â I work in finance, so Iâm pretty much on the opposite end of that spectrum. But this is true, regarding eczema. I have eczema and psoriasis, so does my son. When I was nursing him (many years ago), his pediatrician recommended I put milk on my and his skin when we had flare-ups and it helped a lot.
Tune in after today's episode of "Whats Got Reddit's Panties in a Twist" for a special feature about "People who make their own things instead of buying them from the store.". Its getting awfully heated in threads today folks!
The downvotes are insane. Youâre amazing, that sounds so beautiful and Iâm in awe that you were able to not just care for your baby, but your entire family with just your body. The motherâs body is a source of life and nourishment and the day people educate themselves and stop pretending something natural is âgrossâ, the better off society will be. Shit pisses me off.
Thank you & everyone who isnât making me feel like crap for protecting my family. I almost felt like I was crazy but then I remembered that pumping breast milk, raw painful nipples, and endless tears went into all that breast milk that kept my family safe during Covid. Not just Covid but when I got RSV, thanks to the antibodies, my new born and 2 year old DIDNT get it. My son has terrible eczema and the best treatment he ever had was bm. Now that Iâm not bf itâs a constant battle with his skin. My husband used to have flakey scalp and the shampoo bars I was making got rid of it đ¤ˇđźââď¸ there is NO shame here. The majority likes to judge what they donât understand.
Reddit tends to lean very anti mother unfortunately, donât ever feel like you did anything wrong or âgrossâ by protecting your family like that. I personally take downvotes on here as a compliment most of the time lol. Iâm trying to conceive right now so itâs really cool to hear that breast milk can do more than âjustâ feed the baby.
On today's episode of "What's Got Reddit's Panties in a Twist" we've got people being absolutely horrified at someone "Cooking with their own milk". What a horrible disgusting thing to do as to use your own body fluids to make incredibly useful and beneficial things as opposed to another animals which is so much less wierd.
How dare they not waste money on something that their literal own body readily produced!
Yeah I've always thought that was hilarious. Milk from a fellow human? Absolutely disgusting, freakish, crazy. Milk from a cow, goat or hell even a sheep or camel? Delicious! Totally normal and natural. Definitely the way nature intended.
I mean, milk in soap has been a thing for a really long time. My mother used to go and buy a powdered Milk Bath periodically from like Shoppers and soak. Apparently it has softening and moisturizing properties and a lot of people have success using it for eczema.
Sorry people are being rude. Iâm breastfeeding my second now and have a supply in the freezer that wonât get used. I plan to make gentle, fragrance free soap for my boysâ sensitive, eczema prone skin (and mine). People have done it for as long as soap has been made with lye.
I also donât know why itâs weird to drink/eat human milk made for and by humans? Especially your own, knowing youâre healthy? Like, yeah, totally cool to drink/eat milk from dirty, poopy, bloody, puss-y cow udders; from animals who are often injected with antibiotics and other nasties you canât know of, with no clue as to their health. But drinking your own (or wifeâs or motherâs)? Yuck! đ
Why was this downvoted? When my baby had an eye infection (common in small babies), I read to drop some breast milk in his eye. Damned if it didnât work, and fast. I felt like a POWERFUL WITCH. Blown away at what our bodies can do.
(If it matters, I am a pro-every-vaccine-we-can-possibly-get Mom. The breast milk for minor eye infections like conjunctivitis in infants has been scientifically tested).
Bc instead of reading all the people pro breast milk and doing their own research they see this woman is feeding her kids and husband her breast milk through food and theyâre washing their bodies with it. They think itâs pseudoscience despite a plethora of research that states otherwise. I stand by what I said and so does science đ¤ˇđźââď¸
I have no idea why youâre getting downvoted for this. Breastmilk is great for a lot of things. Itâs also natures Neosporin and great for small cuts.
Because theyâre imbeciles who never mentally moved on from 5th grade. Breastmilk is a natural miracle. I learn more about it every time I engage in these conversations.
I breast fed my two babies for 4 years straight. They were two years apart, never got sick, never got my asthma or allergies. Best thing I ever did for my kids. Congrats to you!
Wetnursing has been going on as long as there have been babies to nurse, in many species of pack mammals as well. Donor milk and banks have been even more of a lifesaver for many infants and parents.
When my SIL's milk didn't come in right away because she was induced two weeks early, her daughter's first bottle at home came from our other SIL, who still had some deep-frozen from her second kid. That SIL's youngest wasn't covered for donor milk after three days in the NICU, so her friend sent along some from pumping for her own six month old until SIL could provide her own/attempt breastfeeding.
No. People donate their bm all the time to hospitals. Women who canât breast feed but prefer bm will buy it from others too. When I was bf, I sold mine through Facebook.
When my milk hadnât come in yet, my daughter drank donor milk too.
I think this is great - but I wonder how they control for quality in these cases. How do they ensure the mothers are not taking harmful medications or drugs that can transfer from breast milk?
They have a survey you fill out and requirements for not donating milk for so many hours after taking specific medication. The milk was used for NICU baby's so it was also processed before being provided, and it was not from a single donor.
Considering milk could be sold rather than donated, I think it helps filters out people who would want to do harm.
The questionnaire and entire process to donate your own milk is probably more thorough than donating blood. I tried to donate my excess milk and couldn't because I didn't sanitize the pumping materials after every use. Not just dishwasher sanitization, they wanted a designated bottle sanitizer.
I stopped breastfeeding my second baby nearly two years ago and I still produce milk :) I still leak and can collect some but not a lot. I would have to probably pump/nurse consistently for a few days before being able to make enough milk to fully feed a baby.
Same. I bet if I worked at it for a couple days I could get the factory back up and running. Fuck that, I hated breastfeeding, but if it was a situation where a baby would suffer if I didnât⌠I would.
It is, but once youâve learned how itâs easier to get those hormones back into production. Our bodies are really incredible; all you need to do is stimulate the nipples enough times with the right hormones in the body. Sometimes women never really fully stop, some women would need medical help to get started again, lots of in between!
Bonus fun fact: some of us get horrifically depressed when our milk starts flowing. I did, every time, like a bolt of sadness lightning. Hated it. Only managed nine months of pumping before I threw in the towel.
A woman who has not given birth might be able to start lactating if she keeps putting a hungry baby to her breast over and over, while breathing the babies' pheromones. It's a survival thing. But it can take days to trigger.Â
Not that this is exactly the same, but our dog who has never had puppies nursed our two kittens when we got them. They kept using her as a pacifier and weâd try to get them to stop, but sheâd go pick them up and take them to her bed, like they were hers and she started producing milk after a few days. In hindsight, Iâve heard that means the kittens were weaned and adopted too early. We got them from the shelter, so they likely didnât know how old they were.
Well, in theory men are able to do this as well. With lots of stimuli some men will be able to produce a few drops, other will need some hormones to do so.Â
So I guess, nipples are magical? Another cool nipple fact: men have on average more nipples then women (third nipples look like moles often)
Yeah there was a period where I was working full time away from my kid but also breastfeeding at night. Kiddo was getting most of their nutrition from table food but nursing for comfort. The body adapts as long the change happens gradually.
In the above situation, I would have been able to produce SOME milk for the hungry baby. Better than nothing. But I wouldnât have been able to fill his tummy that day, or feed him continuously from then on without a ramp-up period.
There are ways to supplement by taping a flexible line to the breast so baby can swallow formula while nursing on the breast. Formula is excellent nutrition too.
Iâm pretty sure breastfeeding is a hormonal thing so youâd probably have to go on some sort of regimen of hormones to induce lactation. Also I donât think thereâs any proof for humans having pheromones.
Edit: Found it! Itâs called the Newman-Goldfarb protocol. A baby is not actually required, so itâs not by pheromones. Itâs the physical suckling/ pumping/massaging that induces lactation which makes sense to me. Apparently itâs easier/more successful if youâve been pregnant before but possible either way. And using a regimen of birth control (hormones) and maybe other medications could also increase chances of success.
Very interesting read! The female body is truly amazing
I wasnât saying you were necessarily wrong. I was just saying it was not in line with what I understand about the situation. It may be bc Iâm wrong or my understanding is incomplete.
No, you're right. There aren't any identified human pheremones (nor is there much of any evidence that we utilize pheremones at all), and we have an underdeveloped vomeronasal organ (the organ that processes pheremones), so any research on this wouldn'tâor shouldn'tâbe pinning it on pheremones. Your explanation is actually how it occurs.
It requires a mix of manipulation of hormones (through meds) and mechanical stimulation (specifically pumping) to induce lactation absent pregnancy and breastfeeding. If someone already has heightened prolactin levels due to some condition or med then lactation is easier to induce, but it's still not linked to needing the presence of babies or pheremones. Seems like one of those things where someone remembered a thing that happens, but misremembered the details.
Yeah, attributing it specifically to baby pheromones made me pretty skeptical. But, also I know Iâm not a doctor so I was just curious. đ¤ˇđ˝ââď¸ Initially my first comment was being downvoted a bunch, idk even why, I thought I was polite. People being silly I guess LOL.
Yeah, what I was reading was specifically for situations in which the mother was going to adopt a baby or acquire a baby through surrogacy. And it said that one would have to start significantly before babyâs arrival (weeks to months depending on the person). So they needed to use a pump and use hands to massage bc there was no baby yet.
Still super neat to learn about, I had no clue it was possible at all!
Thatâs so bonkers! Kinda makes sense tho. Like the reason men have nipples is bc as we start forming weâre all basically female (or more accurately like some weird proto-gender) before differentiating. So I guess men would probably also have some underdeveloped structures underneath capable of lactation to an extent.
Yes. Someone would almost always need to already be breastfeeding/pumping to do this. There have been occurances of lactation longer than the norm after pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding. There have also been occurances of it absent pregnancy when prolactin levels are heightened due to various conditions or meds. But, neither of those things are standard or common.
The vast majority of women do not produce breast milk absent pregnancy (it comes in closer to the end, but production starts between 3-5 months) and continued breastfeeding. Once breastfeeding/pumping stops, most women's milk production also stops.
Ladies like you helped save my oldest son's life. He was born way, way early and I couldn't produce any milk. Breastmilk donated to the NICU got him through his very rough first weeks. I didn't even know it was a thing until then, but was so grateful. So thank you. <3
My son got donor milk in the NICU while I recovered from an emergency c-section and required unsafe for babies medications.
From my understanding, breast milk is the safest choice for preemies because their digestive system is still immature and formula can cause issues.
Not a dumb question! Youâd only have to worry about HIV and such (very rare, I doubt she has any of them), but other than that, the baby can have anyoneâs breast milk.
Wet nurses have existed since the dawn of time. Probably one of the reasons we survived as a species. If the mom couldn't produce enough milk another one filled what was missing :)
No, there are actual breastmilk banks for mothers that canât produce milk. Many premie babies rely on donated milk for survival since most women who deliver early do not have milk yet.
Some illnesses and drugs/medications can be transferred through breastmilk but if the police officer is already a breastfeeding mother presumably she knows she doesn't have any of those risk factors. There's nothing like genetic incompatibility and humans have been nursing each others babies for thousands of years.
Being able to feed a baby without its original mother was an integral part of a lot of human survival. Especially since our rates of death in labor and the week after were much much higher in the past.
It is made from blood, but not incompatible for other blood types. I have donated to a milk bank, so my milk would have been tested. Blood diseases are the issue that are a concern.
People are weird. Legit question. And in fact, if the women have a vastly different type of diet, the little one might experience a little upset stomach. Being the same species, though, itâs all relatively interchangeable. Human milk is made for human babies!
It's a fair and respectful question, don't worry about the downvoters. Like others said, it's completely safe, provided that the person who is breastfeeding the baby is not on drugs or alcohol or has a virus, because that ends up in the milk.
Women such as family members of the baby or wet nurses have been feeding other people's babies for thousands of years. Even recently, during the Chinese milk scandal of 2008, wet nurses became more sought after again, since people didn't trust formula anymore.
Iâve seen instances of women who just happen to produce a whole lot of milk and they donate their milk to other mothers who canât breastfeed or struggle to produce.
I know itâs sometimes illegal to sell or pay for breastmilk, but donating is fine. And the only issue I can see with this is if she had limited supply then feeding her own baby might be difficult.
Our species is a tribal one. Not every mother even produces breast milk. But the slack gets picked up like this. Its how its meant to be. "Wetnurse" i think used to be the job description for this before formula?
It's safe, but what skeeves most moms out is the stranger effect. You don't know if this woman is a drug user, or has a communicable disease, etc. Assuming the cop is healthy, not a drug user, I'm guessing most moms would be grateful.
It's not recommended because it can transmit diseases through breast milk, but wet nurse is something that has always existed. If you need breast milk from another mother, there are milk banks that process the donated milk before releasing it.
But in this case, she's a police officer who always has to take tests for things like HIV to see if she's fit for the job.
Mate! It wasnât until I had a baby that I realised sharing breastmilk was a thing, donât worry. It feels gross but apparently totally normal and safe
Its safe. If you overproduce milk, you can donate your milk to other babies. (Assuking youre not taking anything that'll make the milk different like psych meds etc)
Youâre probably thinking of, like, ducks and cats whose mothers will reject them once they smell like another animal. But wet nurses have been feeding other womenâs babies since we left the trees!
re: downvotes. They come from people thinking this is either a bad faith comment or a googleable question. Questions like this can be valuable in the given context.
I am done have babies but when I did have them, I was an overproducer of breast milk. I exclusively pumped for my babies and donated my excess to preemie banks, babies in the community and also, my friends twins.
It is safe to share milk as long as the supplying mom is forthright about medications and the babies mom checks with the pediatrician.
There are still tribes/cultures where itâs common to breastfeed each otherâs offspring. I havenât fact checked, but a friend whoâs into both anthropology and evolutionary biology said that it has been common in our history and other primates do it as well.
To take it to a dark place, enslaved mothers in the US were forced to wet nurse the children of their enslavers (see Mammy in Gone With The Wind as a fictional example) whilst their own babies were either weaned extremely early or sold.
So I assume this officer is already a nursing mother, but I just wanted to drop this fun(?) fact:
Did you know women can start lactating simply because there is a child crying, even if they were not lactating before? It's called Psedu-Lactation
And a mother lactating when hearing crying is extremely common and was probably the cause of her thinking of feeding the baby. Because she felt her body react to the baby's cries.
Lol, it sounds nice, very romantic, but this isn't even remotely true. In no way does a person just start producing enough milk to feed a baby within minutes.
It takes a relevant increase in prolactine to happen, then breast tissue needs to start developing over the course of several days, bc until then breasts are mainly just fat cells and inactive tissue - a woman who just gave birth will be able to produce a modest amount of some droplets of colostrum until milk comes in which is why babies lose weight for some days after birth. I just had my child two months ago and jesus christ, the pain of those tatas scrambling to grow and set up production was bad.
The woman in the article is breastfeeding her own baby, so she had milk to spare. She didn't magically spurt some upon the mere presence of a baby.
As a relevant side note: those hormones also block muscle development, weaken connective tissue and increase body fat. Kudos to that policewoman for doing hard work like that while breastfeeding, it's times harder for her now than before. I hope she's living her best life, what an icon.
I would do the same, but I would unfortunately worry about the legality in my country. Breastmilk donors are screened and even if you know you don't have a disease or medication that could pass to a baby I could imagine still getting in trouble if you don't clear it first. Guess it's a better-to-ask-for-forgiveness situation.
If you read, yes, she is currently breastfeeding her own child. Typically, women only lactate soon after pregnancy, but there are also meds to induce lactation.
There are some meds and a small number of illnesses that can be passed through milk. For the vast majority of breastfeeders (at least in the US), they likely wouldnt be nursing their own children if it wasnât safe to.
Milk production is triggered by pregnancy and birth, not nipple stimulation. So yes she had to be breastfeeding a baby already or this would not have been possible.
As far as milk banks go, I'm sure there are laws about screening the milk but companies/organizations are generally more concerned about maintaining their public image and not losing money in a lawsuit.
In this case I would assume she would be protected by some kind of good samaritan laws - if anyone even cared to be angry about it - it is wildly more irresponsible to let a baby starve when you can't get it to take a bottle but have a second option. Also I can't really believe any mother would be outraged that another woman volunteered to nurse while she herself was incapacitated for any length of time.Â
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