Susan, 46, died less than 12 hours after giving birth to Moses from an amniotic fluid embolism, a rare obstetric complication unrelated to age. Her death left Moses' father, Northern Michigan University history professor Robbie Goodrich, facing a dilemma in his moment of grief: How would the infant receive the breast milk he needed to survive and grow?
The first place Robbie turned was the local hospital where Moses was born, but they did not stock any breast milk. A nurse at the hospital who asked around on his behalf found out that the closest community that had breast milk was Kalamazoo, and that it would take three days for it to be shipped to Marquette.
While he was looking for milk, a family friend who was nursing a one-year-old child herself left a message on Robbie's phone, offering to nurse Moses as well. It was then that the 44-year-old widower realized that this was what his wife would have wanted.
Through another family friend, Nicoletta Fraire, 35, Robbie was connected to Sally Keskey, founder of a local breast-feeding support group, the Yooper Nursers. Through Keskey's efforts, in short order, about 20 women had offered to nurse Moses.
The first of the substitute moms, 29-year-old Carrie Fiocchi, came to the Goodrich home the morning after she received the request, while the family was still in mourning and preparations for Susan's funeral. "It was awkward and sad and really wonderful at the same time," she said in an interview with CNN. She also said that she and her husband fell apart after hearing the story -- she had given birth for the first time just six weeks earlier -- and knew they had to help out a stranger in need. It was only later that they realized they had met Robbie some time ago.
A similar sense of obligation and concern motivated the other women who volunteered to breast-feed Moses. Some were former students of the Goodriches - Susan also taught Spanish and Portuguese at NMU. One of them, Sarah McDougall, 28, said that breast-feeding Moses "gave me a way to be there for her and her family in a way I wouldn't have known how to do otherwise."
Juggling the schedules and requirements of the volunteer nursers was a challenging task at first, but the team eventually worked out a regular schedule of six feedings a day, at 9 a.m., noon, 1:30, 4, 6:30 and 8 p.m. At night, Robbie bottle-feeds Moses breast milk pumped by the mothers.
Robbie said the visits from the volunteers - some with children and even husbands in tow - were as good for him as they are for Moses. "These are deeply caring individuals who spend time and work with me," he said. "They’ve all treated me with the utmost graciousness and empathy."
Even though the nursing will wind down early next year, the community effort has strengthened old friendships and forged new ones. Former volunteers drop in on the Goodriches to check on Moses and his dad and sister. Fathers read stories to his 2 1/2-year-old sister Julia, and volunteers' own children have bonded with Robbie's.
While the women cannot completely replace Susan, Robbie said, they have given Moses and his family a valuable gift that he could not have provided by himself. "He's a healthy, happy, well-adjusted boy," he said, "who has always known a mother's love."
Posted December 1st, 2009 by Sandy Smith
