It takes a village to raise a child and Patrisha Organo, a flight attendant, agrees completely. That’s why she offered to breastfeed a passenger’s baby after the mother ran out of formula milk. Orango had just gotten a promotion that morning as a Cabin Crew Evaluator when the incident unfolded. Having boarded the Philippines Airlines flight early in the morning she knew it was going to be a special one. Moments later she heard a baby crying.
“Everything went smoothly until, after takeoff, I heard an infant’s cry, a cry that will make you want to do anything to help,” shared Organo, who “approached the mother and asked if everything’s okay.” It was a six-month-old infant whose screams and cries evoked some exhausted stares from fellow passengers. Offering a solution, Organo said, “I tried to tell her to feed her hungry child” but was met with a distressing response, “Teary-eyed, she told me that she ran out of formula milk. Passengers started looking and staring at the tiny, fragile crying infant.”
Of course, Orango knew what the child needed but was also aware that the plane did not carry any formula milk. Now there was only one way to feed the baby and it was by offering her own breast milk and so did without a moment of hesitation, reports CNN.
Turns out, the flight attendant was breastfeeding her own nine-month-old daughter which meant she was lactating. The flight’s line administrator, Sheryl Villafor, soon guided Organo and the baby’s mother to the plane’s galley so the child could be fed. “I saw the relief in her mother’s eyes,” said Orango who simply couldn’t turn the kid away.
“I continued to feed the baby until she fell asleep. I escorted her back to her seat and just before I left, the mother sincerely thanked me,” she added. Next, a picture (which has since been removed) of her breastfeeding the child was posted on Facebook which immediately went viral. “Thank you, Lord, for the gift of mother’s milk,” she wrote Orango helped out the mom and her baby in a time of great need. Maybe that’s what a mother’s love is but more than that’s it is what humanity should be – Helping people in need if you have the means.
That being said US Food and Drug Administration recommends speaking with a doctor before feeding a baby breast milk from another mother. The FDA’s website warns that feeding a baby milk from some who is not their mother risks exposing them to infectious diseases, “to chemical contaminants, such as some illegal drugs, and to a limited number of prescription drugs that might be in the human milk.”
Cover image source: YouTube Screenshot | USA Today
Disclaimer : This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition
