Dad ‘breastfeeds’ his newborn when the baby’s mum couldn’t
Oh. My. Gosh. In a giant leap away from the usual approach to fatherhood, this new dad is proving that men can parent in a whole other committed and snuggly way.
Emergency delivery
When baby Rosalie was born back in June, it was at the end of a very fraught labour. Her mum, April Neubauer, had suffered high blood pressure, preeclampsia and a seizure, which meant Rosalie was born via emergency c-section. Another seizure shortly after her baby’s birth meant April was whisked away for further treatment, still yet to hold her baby.
This is where Rosalie’s daddy stepped in. Wisconsin new father Maxamillian Kendall Neubauer was super fortunate that the family had landed in a brilliant hospital with no-nonsense attitudes to postpartum bonding.
“A nurse came out with our beautiful baby girl. We went to the nursery, I sat down and took off my shirt for some skin-to-skin time,” Maxamillian told the BBC. “The nurse said we needed to get her a little formula and do some finger feeding, just something to get her started.”
“Then the nurse asked if maybe I would like to throw a nipple on and do some real breastfeeding. Me being a big joker with the ability to try just about anything once, I said sure, why not.”
A new spin on fatherhood?
A little while later, and Maxamillian was rigged up with a plastic nipple shield, connected to a tube and a formula-filled syringe. He snuggled Rosalie into his chest and off she went.
Read more about breastfeeding:
- “Finger feeding” helps amazing mum mimic breastfeeding during cancer treatment
- I struggled to produce breastmilk for my baby. Then I found supply line feeding
- Milk wars: ‘It’s time join forces instead of fighting about feeding babies’
“I’ve never breastfed or even thought in a thousand years I would. I was the first to breastfeed the baby!” Maxamillian told the BBC. “I felt a connection the minute I saw my little girl. I got to hold her and help her get used to breastfeeding, I hope.”
“I really did it just to be a good dad and be a hero for the nursing staff because they are superheroes. You couldn’t ask for anyone better. Don’t forget those mums, though. I did it for them too.”
Due to complications during Aprils emergency c-section. This super rad nurse made a epically killer offer, and I was…
Posted by Maxamillian Kendall Neubauer on Tuesday, 26 June 2018
While lots of people were keen to voice their disapproval of a dad feeding his baby like this, many others chimed in to support this family. And honestly? If we truly want to stamp out unhelpful stereotypes and toxic masculinity, critiquing dads for snuggling up to and feeding their babies seems totally counter-intuitive. We could not love this awesome dad’s approach to caring for his newborn more! #GoodOneMax
