This photo of a new dad ‘Breastfeeding’ his baby is so heartwarming

What a great dad!

When Maxamillian Neubauer’s wife, April, experienced complications during the emergency C-section birth of their daughter and was subsequently unable to breastfeed right away, the new dad decided to feed the baby himself in an inventive and unique way.

A nurse at Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where the baby was born, had a great suggestion for how Neubauer could “breastfeed” his newborn baby in his wife’s stead while she recovered.

How Does A Dad Nurse A Baby, You Ask?

The nurse, Cybil Martin-Dennehy, suggested that Neubauer could use a nipple shield connected to a syringe of milk to simulate the experience of breastfeeding the baby, which would give the baby crucial skin-to-skin contact and also encourage her natural suckling instinct, making it easier for her to latch if or when her mom was ready to breastfeed her.

Neubauer was more than happy to give the contraption a try, and now his heartwarming post about getting the chance to “breastfeed” his daughter is going viral:

Alongside photos of him feeding the baby via this ingenious system, Neubauer wrote, “Due to complications during April’s emergency c-section. This super rad nurse made a epically killer offer, and I was fortunate enough to slap on a suction cup fake nipple. Being the first to breast feed da baby!!!! ‘I did it for the moms’ Eat your heart out!! ☺💕😘🤗”

According to Neubauer’s Facebook page, it looks like little baby Neubauer is home now, doing great and is able to be breastfed by mom.

The First Dad To Sign Up

Neubauer’s post has now been shared more than 30,000 times and people have flooded the comments section with messages of congratulations and encouragement for this awesome dad who went above and beyond for his daughter.

“We didn’t invent this way to introduce breastfeeding,” Martin-Dennehy told Green Bay Press Gazette. “It’s been around a while. I’ve asked other dads if they wanted to do this, but until Max, none of the dads wanted to do this.”

RELATED: This “Dad Shirt” lets proud papas keep their babies close:

What’s A Nipple Shield?

Nipple shields are flexible pieces of nipple-shaped silicone that are also used for new moms who have flat or inverted nipples to help babies get a better latch.