Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Jail denies nursing mother's request to feed baby

This breaking news story from Charlotte, North Carolina has me truly outraged and ashamed of my home state.

A Brazilian woman was jailed in Charlotte on Friday for immigration charges, and has been denied the opportunity to pump breast milk for her son, who is younger than two months old.

You can imagine what it means for a breastfeeding infant and mother to be separated and needlessly denied the opportunity to at least pump the milk to be delivered to the baby.

When my nursing daughter was 5 months old I had to go away for a day where I had little opportunity to pump, and just the pain of engorgement was absolutely agonizing. Yet I knew I'd be back in a day, and my baby was safe at home with a stockpile of plenty of breastmilk to feed her.

I can't imagine what it would be like to be ripped from my toddler child and nursing baby and worry about their welfare and the little baby's nourishment. The Charlotte Observer news story reports that baby Samuel is "crying incessantly and keeps spitting up baby formula."

I feel angry but rather than remaining totally helpless I am doing what I can to at least magnify the awareness of the story. Now that you know, is there anything you can do to help?

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1 Comments:

Blogger A. Lin said...

This makes me so angry that I want to spit nails. And the poor woman was already planning to go back to Brazil and had bought her tickets. The immigration system is so screwed up.

I nursed both of my sons for way over a year, but I remember those first months. It has got to be so bad for this woman.

Makes me want to pick up a protest sign and drive to Charlotte.

2:30 PM  

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