Wet nursing, a widespread practice predating infant formula and feeding bottles, empowered women to use their natural productions positively. Salma Hayek, renowned for her role in Frida and dedication to women’s welfare, exemplifies this by offering her milk to a distressed stranger’s malnourished baby.
A selfless act
In September 2008, humanitarian Salma Hayek, not as a celebrity but as a compassionate individual, visited Sierra Leone for an African charity mission. Encountering a mother without milk in a hospital, Hayek, with a one-year-old daughter, selflessly breastfed the stranger’s malnourished one-week-old son amidst camera crews.
Encouraging her daughter generosity
Hayek acknowledged mixed feelings post-incident but believed her daughter would proudly share her milk. She expressed, “I actually think my baby would be very proud to be able to share her milk.” Planning to instill generosity in her daughter’s upbringing, she asserted, “That’s the best thing I can give her as a mother.”
Family tradition of kindness
Hayek shared that aiding children ran in her family. In a Mexican village, her great-grandmother once halted the cries of a stranger’s starving baby by breastfeeding, a tradition highlighting kindness and selflessness.
“And in the street, my great-grandmother breastfed that baby, who instantly stopped crying and went peacefully to sleep. I was really impressed by that story,” she recalled.
Breastfeeding: a choice, not a stigma
Hayek defended her choice to breastfeed a stranger’s child, aiming to challenge the stigma on women. She emphasized women should have the freedom to choose and not fear their bodies. “I was just open to this experience, and it’s been quite an amazing one,” she said.
In addition to Salma Hayek, other celebrities openly share their experiences of breastfeeding their babies, contributing to normalizing this natural and nurturing act.
