Contrary to popular belief, not every woman who wants to breast-feed is able to. And if a mother still wants to feed her newborn or infant with breast milk, there's no guarantee that she'll have access to it.
Luckily, for moms living in New York state, the New York Milk Bank provides milk to those who need it, and they offer a totally badass delivery system in NYC, courtesy of the Siren’s Women’s Motorcycle Club of New York City.
When considering how to deliver breast milk within Manhattan, Julie Bouchet-Horwitz, the milk bank's executive director, decided that they'd need to find a way around the notorious city traffic — one of the milk bank's priorities is to get its milk to hospitals as quickly as possible. As she explains in the video above from the New York Post, this need is what led her to the Sirens.
"I always see these motorcyclists weaving in and out of traffic while we're stuck, and I thought, what if milk has to get to a hospital right away?" she said. "Maybe we should use a motorcycle rider to bring the milk in and out of Manhattan."
The Sirens are an all-female biker gang with a membership of roughly 50 people. From the moment they were offered the gig, it seems they knew they'd be providing a very special service.
"We are uniquely positioned to do the job," says one member.
"It was pretty unanimous that we wanted to help out," says another.
While breast-feeding rates have been going up over the years — a 2013 study from the CDC found that 77% of American women breast-fed their babies, compared to 71% a decade earlier — many moms still struggle with breast-feeding, whether that's due to premature births, preexisting health conditions, or, as Adele put it, simply being unable to do it. Needless to say, these bikers are not only badass, they're doing an incredible service.
If you were looking for an awesome new female role model, you've got an entire club's worth in the Sirens. Check out the full video from the Post above, and donate to the New York Milk Bank here.
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