Natural Pregnancy Project

Not long ago Selma Hayek went to Africa with the program Nightline.  She was there to get some publicity for her ongoing work to decrease the level of tetanus in that country.

Selma is a still breastfeeding mom and the topic of breastfeeding came up with some doctors in a local village health center.  The world health organization would like mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first 2 years. However, in Africa ~ where food is scarce and you would think mothers would breastfeed because it’s food they available most mothers quit breastfeeding after only a few months.

There is a taboo in the culture. It is believed to be wrong to have sex with a breastfeeding mother. So new mothers are pressured by their husbands to quit breastfeeding early so they can resume their sexual relationship.

While Selma was there, a baby became hungry and there was no food for it to eat, and its mother was not longer nursing it, so she did. She very casually pulled the baby to her breast and it began to nurse promptly and strongly.

You could see the satisfaction, both on the face of the baby as well as on Selma’s.

When the incident was over there were a few different feelings Selma talked about having. She mentioned feeling a little guilty for giving her baby’s milk away to a strange baby ~ which I imagine is not a very odd thing to feel. However, she will make as much milk as her baby needs, and I bet she could have fed quite a few more of those African babies as well.

The other thing she talked about was pride. She told Cynthia McFadden who was the correspondent with her on the trip that her great  grandmother had come across a mother and a screaming newborn in the streets of Mexico. Her grandmother had stopped to see if she could help and the new mother told her that her milk had dried up and she had no way to feed her starving baby.

At that point Selma’s great grandmother did just as Selma had that day and nursed the baby. The woman was so grateful that her baby did not starve. Selma was feeling pretty proud that she had walked in the footsteps of this grandmother who it appeared she greatly admired.

Well I may be a bit late to the party here, as it seems this video went completely viral yesterday and I didn’t hear about it until last night on Nightline ~ but here it is. Selma Hayek breastfeeding an African baby.

All I can say is Amen to Selma. If every person in this world had her generosity of spirit a lot of our problems would be solved.

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