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Lactating Chinese policewoman nurses earthquake babies

by Angie Felton (Subscribe to Angie Felton's posts)
May 22nd 2008 6:01PM

8Comments

Filed under: Babies, In The News, Playground Bureau

The motto of police officers in the United States is "to serve and protect" but police officer Jiang Xiaojuan went way above the call of duty when helping fellow citizens affected by the recent 7.9 earthquake.

When Jiang, the mother of a six-month-old, realized there was nothing for hungry babies to eat, she started breastfeeding them herself. At one point the young mother was providing nourishment for nine babies.

"I didn't think of it much," the humble officer said. "It is a mother's reaction, and a basic duty as a police officer to help."

But the local media thought a lot of her highly personal approach to saving lives. Jiang has become a celebrity, followed by local media and proclaimed "China's Mother No. 1" on the front page of newspapers.

Some of the babies Jiang nursed had lost both parents in the quake and are now being cared for in orphanages. She is still nursing two babies, whose mothers managed to survive but stopped producing breast milk due to the traumatic conditions.

"We walked out of the mountains for a long time. I hadn't eaten in days when I got here and my milk was not enough," said one of the mothers, Zhao Zong Jun. "She saved my baby. I thank her so much, I can't express how I feel."

There's a huge lump my throat at the difference this woman has made in the lives of so many people. Some people still have the outdated notion that women have no business in law enforcement, but Jiang Xiaojuan is proof that sometimes the very best man for a job is a woman.

Tags: china earthquake, ChinaEarthquake, chinese cop nurses babies, chinese mother saves babies, ChineseCopNursesBabies, ChineseMotherSavesBabies, expire-images2009-5-22, Jiang Xiaojuan, JiangXiaojuan

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