This from a subscriber,

Subject: Incarcerated teen
l got a call today from a young male juvenile probation officer. As the
mother of two teenagers, I thought oh no, who is it and what did they do or
what has happened to them- totally uncharacteristic for my children, but
panic-y for a mom. Anyway, before I could recover- he said that they had a
16 year old who was incarcerated and had a nine day old baby and the baby
would only take breast milk and they needed to find a breast pump for this
young girl. Could I please help them. Thinking fast on my feet, I assured
him that I could help and then I started talking about the needs of the
mother and the baby. I suggested that the best solution would be to bring
the baby to the mother and allow the baby to nurse. I suggested that they
needed to look at the big picture and see that this baby needed his mom,
not just her milk. I reminded him that this baby was at very high risk of
following in his mother's footsteps and that by separating them they were
interfering with the bond that might help them break the cycle of violence
and crime. I also told him that a woman who has had a baby can change,
especially if she is breastfeeding she may be highly motivated to clean up
her act and behave more responsibly. I reminded him that the fact that she
was breastfeeding was an indication that she wanted the best for her baby
and was willing to sacrifice for him. Apparently this girl had been out on
a warrant for several months and they were happy to have her back in
custody. I suggested that they bring the baby to the jail and allow the
mother to care for him in the infirmary. I suggested that they look at the
big picture and the long term impact that their actions would have on this
young woman and her child. He listened attentively and said that I had some
good ideas and that while I located a pump for her, he would talk to his
supervisors about bringing the baby to the mom for feedings. I located a
pump for her and called him back- he was in meetings for hours and we
played phone tag. Apparently the baby had been put into foster care because
the family was not cooperative in apprehending this girl and maintaining
responsibility for her. By the time I talked to the probation officer
again, they had the pump on the way, they had made contact with the girls
family to make arrangements for her care and the baby's care and they were
contacting the judge to have her released to these family members and be
reunited with her baby. I don't know if I will ever know the outcome, but
this little girl got a world of help from the breastfeeding community today
and she will probably never know how and why things worked out the way they
did. Hopefully this will be a turning point for her and her baby.

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