As most of us have already heard, on May 12, 2008, China suffered a devastating earthquake. When these types of disasters hit, it always seems to be the ordinary people that turn out to be the biggest heroes of all. Police officer, Jiang Xiaojuan, mother to a 6 month old son became “China’s heroic Mother.” When Jiang was called into duty what she found was babies crying in hunger. Jiang’s instincts kicked in and she breastfed babies that had been separated from their mother’s who had been orphaned by the quake, at one point breastfeeding 9 babies. See the post on BlogHer about it here.

Many have been making comments about Jiang’s selfless and beautiful act. Jiang herself says “I am breastfeeding, so I can feed babies. I didn’t think of it much, it is a mother’s reaction and a basic duty as a police officer to help.”

It is stories like these of this selfless mother that remind us not only of the power of human kindness, but also how important breastfeeding can be in an emergency or natural disaster.