Celebrity
Salma Hayek Recalls When She Had To Breastfed A Stranger Woman’s Baby
Hayek aims to diminish the stigma placed on women for breastfeeding.
When Salma Hayek’s selfless act in Sierra Leone aired in the news, it instantly attained an outpour of mixed reactions. In 2008, The Frida star visited the country not as a celebrity but as a humanitarian to participate in an African charity mission. What mainly got attention was that Hayek breastfed another woman’s newborn son on camera.
Doctors had told the actress that most mothers stop breastfeeding within the first few months after birth because of pressure from their husbands.
Tradition has it, in some areas, that it’s not acceptable to have s*xual relations with a breastfeeding woman. The video of Hayek nursing the baby boy, ironically born on the same day as her daughter [pictured below], emerged on YouTube and other websites. Not minding the cameras crews around her, the actress couldn’t hold back but help the one-week-old.
Hayek recalls that her decision to breastfeed another woman’s child was an attempt to diminish the stigma placed on women for breastfeeding.
She told Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden that she thought her daughter wouldn’t mind sharing her milk. And added: “I actually think my baby would be very proud to share her milk. And when she grows up, I’m going to make sure she continues to be a generous, caring person. I think that’s the best thing I can give her as a mother.”
Hayek told McFadden that the idea of helping a child had a long tradition in her family.
She related a story about her great grandma years ago in Mexico saving a starving baby of a stranger by breastfeeding the child. However, a blogger on Entertainment Weekly has since declared Hayek’s video winner of the biggest eyebrow raise award and branded the actress cool “because her left breast has done more humanity than I’ve done in my life.”
With this noble act, Hayek no doubt made a loud and clear point about how women should have a choice and not be afraid of their bodies.
Jennifer Perillo, the food editor at Working Mother Magazine and writer for NYC Moms Blog, The Daily Juggle, & The Mama Chronicles, branded Hayek’s act “as one of the greatest gifts you can give a piece of yourself.” Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, the OB-GYN expert on momlogic, reportedly said: “God bless Salma Hayek, who can go stick her b**b in some poor African baby’s mouth. I think it’s crazy. But I say You Go.”
Wet nursing had been a common practice before the invention of infant formula and feeding bottles.
Moreover, a woman whose body is producing something naturally does have the choice to use it positively. On the other hand, Sierra Leone has the highest infant mortality rate worldwide, partly fueled by malnutrition. During her tour, physicians in the country told Hayek they would like to see mothers breastfeed their children for two years, but the stigma too often gets in the way.
