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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I’m pretty sure you can’t nurse until.you deliver. Your milk doesn’t Even on until that one certain hormone is released ?how did she nurse her?
Some people do start to lactate in the last few weeks or months before they deliver.
I started producing colostrum at 16 weeks. Midwives encourage you to try and express and store it from 37 weeks onwards, so it’s more than possible. Your milk doesn’t come in til about 3 days after the birth, but colostrum is what newborns need- it’s like liquid gold and would have done this little one a world of good.
Something must be wrong with some of the translations because it appears to say that the person who left a helpless newborn girl to die on the side of the road in sweltering heat was a mother who did her “best.” That couldn’t be right.
Just beautiful. Well done and quick thinking. Poor little bubba.
This is not a bottle vs breast story. It’s a life vs death story
That ended well. 🙂
It is an amazing thing what that women did to save that beautiful baby girl. Are they going to try and find out who a banned the baby and charge them???
to any nay-sayers out there:
If this was a cow feeding an orphaned calf you wouldn’t have a problem with it would you?
This woman was intelligent and instinctual enough to do an amazing thing and if more humans were like her the world would be a better place.
What a sweet story! I wouldn’t have even hesitated to feed that baby. But like her I’m sure the only hard part would have been letting her go.
Wow amazing!!! if I was this woman I would try to adopt this baby, and to the woman who left this baby in the sun to die shame on you, you could of taken her to hospital or to a member of the family, there is loads of things you could of done there is no excuse. Hope you get punished for this, she didn’t stand a chance in that heat if no one found her poor little girl.
what an amazing woman to do that! that child survived thanks to her (and her family’s) actions.
People drink another species milk no questions asked but this is considered weird? Humans.
I think this woman is amazing. I wouldn’t hesitate in doing that to save a child’s life.
Beautiful story….So glad the little baby girl was ok due to the kindness of a lady whom did the most natural thing in this world offered her love & milk.
I would of done the same as she did.
Hope the little one found a loving family who loves her to bits!
Love & hugs to her ?
Well done to the most lovely & kind lady for helping the little sweetie live ?
Too bad you couldn’t keep the baby but amazing job saving her life
Surely just a publicity stunt? If the baby was so hot and in danger why is it still all wrapped up In an outfit while you feed It….
Theres a reason behind it all a very wise lesson here for all nursing was done centuries ago nothing bad or unusual about God has made this as an example as to how our lifes are precious and how we can help one another through difficultly no matter were in the world you come from we are all human and have the same basic needs the only ddifference is culture religion other than that we are all the same. This baby has a purpose in her life may god grant her a long and healthy joyful life Aameen.
i am a boy and i have a little sister , if her mum couldn’t nurse her i would instantly , i would take her in and nourish her
My grandfather was nursed by a neighbor because his mom couldn’t produce any milk. The neighbor recently had a baby and nursed my grandfather and her own child. This kind lady saved him and so his mother named him after their family: Lewis (back when babies sometimes went a while before being named). I would totally do it. I’ve pumped milk for my neighbors baby before… not to different than nursing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet_nurse.
Wet Nurse. It is the way that babies have always been saved by another mother
This is such a touching story. So wonderful she did this for that helpless, needing baby. Beautiful! So much love sent to you for helping this tender baby live. I hope she finds a loving family to love her unconditionally!!
Good work by her….I don’t know why even here in Canada where women can breastfeed in public, people get offended, when like 90% of us were!
I know I’m setting myself up for backlash here, but I honestly hope the mother hears about this story. Yes, I know she made a horrible decision, but we know nothing about her life circumstances. This probably haunts her.