Salma Hayak Breastfeeds African Infant

Salma Hayek went to Africa for a Unicef trip.  Alright, so I’m not pleased that the trip was sponsored by Proctor & Gamble, animal tester and phthalate distributor extraordinaire. Or that now Hayek is touring the talk shows, telling mamas to buy landfill diapers from Pampers, because then P & G will donate money for tetanus vaccinations in Africa.

But I love that she cross-nursed a baby to take a stand for breastfeeding.

My baby would be very proud to share her milk.

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In Sierra Leone, women are discouraged from breastfeeding by their husbands.  There’s a belief there that men cannot have sexual relations with lactating women.  Doctors, of course, want women to breastfeed.  Ideally, they’d like them to nurse their young for 2 years.

So Hayek gave a little demo on a boy who was born on the same day as her own daughter.

Last week, Hayek told the Today Show’s Kathie Lee Gifford

It’s about women sticking together and we really need to help the children in any way we can.
[Breastfeeding] is the best thing you can do for your child, not only the bonding, that’s how you build the immune system, so in a country like Africa imagine how important it is for the mothers to do that.

Those of us who have donated breastmilk certainly know what it’s like to “stick together” through milk. And for the minimal vaccinators out there? Yep, we know that breastfeeding is great for the immune system.

Cheers to Hayek for reminding us!

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