The first days at home with a newborn can be terrifying. They cry for indiscernible reasons; they’re so tiny and delicate it’s almost scary to hold them, and if you’re breastfeeding, there are a whole extra set of fears.
You’ve just left a hospital (where a nurse likely asked you how many ounces she ate, requiring you to say, over and over, “I don’t know, she’s breastfed”) and come home to try it on your own, and you’re not sure if you’re making enough milk, or if there’s something else you should be doing. Should she be nursing this much? Is this cluster feeding, or is she starving?
Then, if you do decide to try formula, not only does this begin another learning experience and more hurdles, but there’s also the transition to handle. And why does the breaking point where you finally decide that it’s necessary to try a formula have to happen in the middle of the night?
Late-Night Shopping Is Over
That’s hard enough if you have an all-night grocery or convenience store to run to, but since COVID, the number of stores open past midnight has dropped drastically. Big box stores, pharmacies, and grocery shops that were once 24 hours now close at 10 pm or midnight.
That means if, like the mom in this story, you decide in the middle of the night that the only way anyone will get any peace is if the week-old infant gets their first taste of formula, you’re stuck in a tricky spot.
Who Could She Call?
After searching for any open shop, the exhausted mother contacted her local police department in Miami Township. Some officials might have scolded her for reaching out for a reason that might not look like an emergency to an outsider, but anyone who has held an inconsolable infant knows better—and so did Corporal Hunter Willoughby.
His department released a statement about the events that followed:
During the overnight hours, Corporal Hunter Willoughby received a frantic phone call from a post-partum mother who advised she was unable to feed her one week old infant. Cpl Willoughby went into action and alerted employees at Meijer & they helped (the store was closed at the time). Cpl Willoughby personally purchase some formula and bottles for the mother and delivered the items to the appreciative mother and he refused to accept any payment for the formula or bottles.
Corporal Willoughby Figures It Out
After releasing the original statement, Chief Mike Mills said he’d received so much interest in the situation that he’d decided to share a snippet of bodycam video, sharing how Willoughby helped the unidentified mother solve her problem.
Endearing Effort
We don’t know Corporal Willoughby’s experience level with infants. Still, he can be seen on camera studying cans of baby formula and trying to figure out what’s different about the various options and which is the ‘right’ choice. He’s on his way to the register when an employee stops to make sure he’s remembered bottles and assists him in locating one appropriate for a newborn.
Unless the mother comes forward, we’ll never know the outcome. Still, we know that one law enforcement officer and several Meijer employees went out of their way that evening, after closing, to ensure that a baby didn’t go hungry. A parent had at least a chance at some rest knowing that her baby was cared for.
Public Response
Local and from far away, people are chiming in on the Miami Township Police Facebook post to show appreciation for the officer, saying things like, “This is what the world needs more of,” and thanking him for “show[ing] the humanity behind the badge.”
They’re calling for commendation and recognition for the Meijer employees’ kindness and willingness to help. (Anyone who has worked retail knows the heart-sinking feeling of someone banging on the door after closing and the fear that this will be a challenging evening.)
Moreover, people want to help. They’re offering advice and recommendations, asking to be sure the mother knows about the WIC program and other ways to get free or subsidized formula. Several have even offered to drop off a gift card or baby items!
Though the video was added later, the original post from the Miami Township police was in July, so by now, the unidentified mom and her baby have had a few weeks to figure things out, whether that means formula, breastfeeding, or a combination of the two, and hopefully, both are thriving now!
