Women Rally Around Widower to Breast-Feed Infant Son - Michigan
Just six months ago, Robbie and Susan Goodrich of Marquette, Mich., were expecting their second child. Now Robbie Goodrich is the single father of two young children as he mourns the death of his wife while some two dozen women visit his house in shifts to breast-feed his infant son.
He and his wife were professors at Northern Michigan University. He taught history, and she taught modern languages and literature. Susan Goodrich died Jan. 11 from an amniotic fluid embolism after giving birth to their son, Charles Moses Martin Goodrich (called simply Moses).
Both Goodrich and his wife were strong advocates of breast-feeding. Laura Janowski, a family friend who was already nursing her own 4-month-old daughter, asked if he would like her to breast-feed Moses as well. Almost instinctively, Goodrich said, he answered yes.
His story spread quickly. Susan Goodrich's best friend, Nicoletta Fraire, took charge of organizing the team. Now some 25 women drop by the house to either nurse Moses personally or provide pumped breast milk. They've become a community. (continued)
Beautiful. All the comments on the original article screaming "FORMULA".....just research what formula companies have done in Africa.....disgusting. NOTHING, nothing, NOTHING, can take the place of breast milk. It is beyond compare.
ReplyDeleteIf you HAVE to use formula, no offense at all. It is a viable SUBSTITUTE. But if at all possible, breast milk is the Perfect food for babies. Hands down.
These women are angels....the mother must be looking down from Heaven smiling.
What a wonderful story!
ReplyDeleteProbably a lot of these mommies who are helping feed Moses will feel bonded to him and want to look after him as he grows too. He will likely have lots of mommies who love him.
That is wonderful! I didn't even read the story to know how wonderful these women are.
ReplyDeleteHow bittersweet for the father, but I haven't had a story restore my faith in humanity like this one has in a long time. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best story of community togetherness I've seen in a long time! Huge Kudos to these women sacrficing their time so that this baby can have breastmilk!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's amazing.
ReplyDeletethats wonderful! What caring neighbors :)
ReplyDeleteI wish all communities could come together like this!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry Lola, I don't understand your formula in Africa comment. What has it done? Are referring to poor mothers diluting the milk because they can't afford formula and the children dying as a result? Surely not the fault of formula companies? Mothers in Africa who use formula don't do so for the hell of it, they do so because their baby was perhaps born without HIV and they would like to give the next best alternative to prevent infecting their child with the virus. I don't have children, and I have no problem saying that my child won't come close to my nipples- I've made that clear to my family. They can get milk through a pump. I think it's great that some people breast feed or have the priviledge of the capability. However if I do die, I would never let someone else feed my child by breast. I think that's horribly gross. I hope these woman are just pumping and donating bottles.
ReplyDelete