Would you ever nurse someone else’s baby? What if the life of that child rested on your decision? Maria Kristensen, a 25-year-old mom-to-be from Denmark was faced with this decision recently when she, her husband and three-year-old son Lucas were on their way to the airport in Turkey.
When Maria and her family set out that day, they probably had very few thoughts on their minds other than returning to their Denmark home safely. But as their taxi cab drove down the street, something stood out that they just couldn’t ignore.
“We sat in a taxi when we looked out on something [to the] right,” Maria said. “There was a pink little bundle up in a bag right outside of the road where the sun only shone down. She lay and baked.”
The family asked the cab driver to turn around so they could investigate the bundle further.
“We were very nervous to go out of the car,” Maria recalled. “Was the life of the child? It was over 40 degrees [Celsius], and the bundle lying in the sun.”
Yet despite their fear, the couple approached the little bundle lying in the street. When they reached it, they found a very small newborn girl. Her head was still bloody and the umbilical cord looked as though it had just recently been cut. Maria, a social worker by profession, believes that the little girl had to be only about a day old.
“The mother had packed her into pink clothes and put a blanket around her,” Maria said. “She was really hot, so I hurried to get her in the car and asked the driver to [turn] on the air conditioner. But there was no life in her.”
Maria’s husband Kent brought some cold water and tried to cool the baby down that way, but she still wasn’t responding. Suddenly, Maria had an idea. At 31 weeks pregnant, she was already lactating. After asking the cab driver if she could nurse the infant (due to cultural rules against nursing in public), Maria attempted to nurse the little girl.
“It took a while, but after a while, the little girl began to drink,” Maria said. “After she got into the industry, she revived. There was life in her eyes. She looked around and we thought ‘in the world.’ She was still bloody, and paper [was] on the umbilical cord. It’s probably a mother who has been powerless and did their best.”
For some, the idea of nursing someone else’s child may seem strange, but Maria says it felt completely natural to her. What was difficult for her was when the little girl had to be taken into child protective custody.
“In fact, I took it pretty well until I had to give her away,” Maria said. “It did not feel good at all to give her away. She woke up and looked the more [in] my eyes, and now I have gray ago.”
The little girl will be adopted out and has been named Ceren. Maria has been able to talk to the authorities about little Ceren’s progress and has been told that she can come by and visit at any time.
At first, it may not have occurred to Maria that she saved the little girl’s life. But now home in Denmark, she’s started to realize just how vital her ability to nurse may have been in keeping Ceren alive.
We often forget just how our decisions can impact the life around us. I’m completely amazed at how quickly and lovingly Maria reacted towards a child that needed her, despite the fact that the child had been born to another woman from another country. Hopefully, this little girl finds a permanent home that can give her just that kind of love – thoughtful, instinctive and loving beyond condition.
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it would of been hard though to give the baby to the athorities but a good feeling knowing you saved a innocent life.. I hope whoever adopts this precious child keeps intouch with the family who saved her life and keeps em up on how she is doing and one day perhaps when she is older she can meet the child she saved and the child can meet the woman who saved her life and was there at the right time when she needed her most
god bless her
I know God was in this one…
My Nana (from England) was a wet nurse back in the 20S when she was pregnant with my Aunt Jean.
If this chance had come up for me, without a doubt I would do it…She saved that baby girls life, as God planned
amen!
I think this is a nice article about the couple and woman who saved this baby, but the overall tone of, “would you breastfeed another persons baby?” seems a bit dramatic. Women have been doing that for centuries. “Wet nursing” has kept millions of babies alive I’m sure and doesn’t seem like a big controversy.
Women donate breast milk to hospitals all the time for babies that are not theirs. At least they do in the United States. Maybe it’s a culture thing?
This article was published almost a year ago. Does anyone know what has happened to Cerene?
I don’t think there is even a question in this. Would you nurse someone else’s child if their live depended on it? I think you would have to be one cold hearted individual NOT to. I was just telling my husband how, having nursed my daughter for 24 months, my breasts feel sollen and swore with the feel of needing to nurse every time I hear an infant crying in a certain way. I have to laugh, because after reading this article, I feel sore the same way. It’s been 2 years since I stopped nursing, but I don’t think that instinct ever goes away.
My daughter was born 11 weeks premature and wasn’t able to take to breast however I would pump my milk and take it to the hospital for her and it would be used in her feeding tubes, however I was making wayyyy too much and they didnt have room to store it, at the time my daughter was sharing a room with twins that were born at 28 weeks, and their mother was not able to produce milk, we became friends and after talking one afternoon we decided that instead of me throwing away all the extra milk I was producing I should give it to her twins, we had to sign a lot of paperwork and the hospital wanted to run some tests on my milk to make sure it was ok to give to the other babies but by the next afternoon her little boy and little girl were both recieving my milk and a day later they were doing much better than they were doing before, the fear of losing her babies were almost gone because they were doing so well, you can never underestimate the power of mothers milk.
Of course I would nurse any baby that needs nourishment. I even offered to friends to babysit their baby and nurse if hungry. The parents thought it was strange but I thought if baby is hungry I feed them if I can. It comes natural to want to nurture. I don’t think I could have given the baby up, I’d try to adopt her myself.
Women totally rock our world!
I am 52 years old, all of my children were nursed, and I too was a wet nurse with my first child, if one of my grandchildren needed me too, I would gladly bring the milk in and nurse, BRAVO to this lady!!
very beautiful thing maria done i breastfeed my son until he was one and i wish i would have continued the most wonderful feeling and if there were a child in need i would in a heartbeat
This is just more proof that we are different than animals, an animal wouldnt have given a second thought to another animals offspring besides to see if it was food or not but other than that it would have left it to die
Not true. Cats will adopt abandoned kittens into their litter if they find it to be healthy. If it is weak and sick not so much. Wolves often will adopt cubs as well. Monkey mothers will often take to other animal babies not just monkeys.
Not really many animals have helped and nursed other stray animals. Just like people, it depends on the animal or person s personality and character.
God Bless Maria, her family and to babygirl Ceren.
After reading this article I decided to read the comments to see what others have said, and it makes me happy to see that people are not focusing on the neglect, but praising this loving mother
Hopefully we can eventually put a stop to this sort of thing from happening in the first place with peaceful messages like this instead of hate driven conversations that only isolate people suffering from mental illnesses
Would I breastfeed a baby to save his/her life? Uh yes! I have breastfed friends babies and my sister’s babies. I had a good friend donate breast milk when my supply was frustratingly low. So yeah it is perfectly acceptable and has been done for centuries.
I have nursed several people’s babies. It never even felt weird at all. They needed my milk so they got it. My 5 kids were nursed and I have nursed my 3 grand kids. I even nursed a starving 3 week old poodle puppy in Mexico who was starving. My milk kept the puppy alive. Now I’m adopting my 2 month old nephew and had not thought of nursing him. He’s never been nursed and is allergic to every formula there is. He is a very tiny baby and not the healthiest of my now 6 kids. I’m so happy I read this article. I am going to get him on my tit right away. He’s doing great on goats milk. I can’t imagine how we’ll he will do once my milk drops again. I hope it will. I have not nursed in 8 years. Wish me luck and prayers please.
Check out kellymom.com for good relactation advice. Good luck!
Go to “ask lenore.com” to see the protocol for “induced lactation”. Sounds like it might be really easy for you.
When my second son was born I produced enough milk to feed 6 babies and because I had to stay in the hospital for a week ,the nurses asked if they could use the extra milk for the premature babies. After a few days a woman came into my room with some flowers, she wanted to thank me, her son was born 8 weeks early and she hadn’t been able to produce milk due to stress. When she was asked if they were allowed to use my milk it was such a relief for her, the stress she felt was lifted and 3 days later she started producing milk herself.
Without even thinking about it I would breastfeed another child if needed. It is a beautiful gift we as women are given. We are the lifegivers. It is an instinct to nurture and care for young, wether we gave birth to that young or someone else…I only wish that she had been able to adopt Cerene. That would have been really beautiful!
Wow, what an amazing story! I’ve never nursed any children other than my own, but I would totally do what this mom did. And I can understand how hard it would be for her to give the baby away after that. Thanks for sharing!
This is such amazing story. I never take the time to post
Comments on thing that are from the Internet .
But this story was so touching to me. I would have
Done the same thing . I know that had to be so
Hard for her to let that lil precious angel go.
Happy to know that she can stay in touch with
The child. God bless her and the child and her
Unborn child.
Just seeing this now, after it’s a year old, but I’m not surprised at all at this woman’s actions. In fact, I’m shocked at how surprised and amazed people at what she did. It’s called the Mother Instinct. As a woman and a Mother, she saw a child in need and did at Nature has designed her to do: nurture, protect, and provide for the child. I mean, how often do we read about animal mothers taking in babies from other species and raising them? It’s fairly common, in fact.
I guess in our society where we are so self-centered and self-serving it is somewhat shocking.