Young mother finds an abandoned baby in a cardboard box and breastfeeds her to save her life

Fortunately these days, abandonment of babies in the streets is a very rare occurrence. Within maternity wards there is a very strict code of ethics governing a mothers' choices. Those who do not want a newly born baby can leave it in complete anonymity and secrecy at the ward. In some countries, however, the abandonment of babies is still a sad reality. In this story, a child was saved thanks to the intervention of mother who - setting her own child aside for a while - breast-fed the newly found baby. Sounding like a tale from medieval times, this story was recently documented in China.

via Daily Mail UK

UNICEF Ukraine/Flickr - Not The Actual Photo

A woman from Beiwei Village, which is located in Xianyang city in northwest China, saw a large cardboard box sitting next to other garbage outside her real estate company offices. At first, she didn't pay much attention to it. During her lunch break, however, she passed by the box again and heard… a baby crying! She quickly walked over to the box and realised it wasn't filled with garbage, but contained a baby crying with hunger!

Wrapped in sheets, the baby had been left with milk and a small amount of money - about 100 yuan ($ 14). A group of people gathered to see what was happening and they took the child into the sunshine to warm it up. Then they started looking around for water to give to the baby girl who was crying with hunger.

Attracted by the commotion, a young mother saw the little girl crying from hunger and acted promptly: she gently took her in her arms and started to breast-feed her.  And this is the scene the police saw upon their arrival: a young woman nursing an abandoned baby, and surrounded by a group of cheering people giving her money.

Chrissie Sternshnuppe/Flickr - Not The Actual Photo

Unfortunately, the Chinese social workers who intervened later discovered the little baby had some serious health problems. The intervention of the kind, improvised mother on the street had perhaps come too late, and the little girl was transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment and monitoring. This tale is so moving that the Chinese social networks continue to follow story - as do we.

This is a story from another age - full of misery and neglect - but it is also one of solidarity and humanity that warms the heart.