Now that I am pregnant, I find that most mornings when I watch the news and listen to stories from around the world, my eyes tear up and I am overwhelmed with emotion. Most of the time, my tears are a response to hearing about lost children, fallen soldiers, everyday people losing their homes and jobs in this economic crisis, and the multiple and ongoing wars around the world that result in the loss of so many innocent people. But every now and again, I listen, eyes watering up, to a story that inspires me and makes me feel like there is good in our world and that at our core, most people are good. This morning, while getting in my morning walk, I heard about this story: the story about Salma Hayek sharing her one year old daughter’s milk by breastfeeding a newborn African child. Not only did I feel empowered as a breastfeeding mother when I heard this story (there is a great power in being able to nurture and feed our children and when we have the will, to nourish children who are in need of food and/or breast milk), but I was moved by Hayek’s generosity and selflessness. I have embedded the video here on Green Mamma so that you may view it yourself. Thoughts?
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Victoria, I can relate to your experience of family and other folks making judgments about breastfeeding beyond the first year; I continue to nurse my daughter at age 25 months and do so while pregnant, so I definitely have felt that other people either doubt or misunderstand why I continue to nurse her. It is so personal and a wonderful gift to both mother and child, in my opinion. I was so inspired by Hayek too, and am hopeful that her single act of breastfeeding another woman’s child will spread breastfeeding awareness so that more children will be able to be nurtured and nourished in this way.
I have always loved Salma to begin with, but this was something that gave me a lot of faith that there is still some good out there. I breast fed my daughter for 4 years, doing the self-weaning thing. It was my discovery that EVERYONE thinks you are doing the greatest thing- for the first year… After that I was “accused” by certain family members/strangers/whoever of being selfish, “hogging” my daughter, and other things… Breastfeeding is a personal, private journey shared by two people and this is how I got through. My daughter and I knew what was right for her… Salma is the best!!!
Jess, yes, these are the reasons I was moved to share the clip here on my blog. So moving, so selfless. I’m not surprised that it is catching on across the web.
Ruth, I immediately thought about wet nurses too when I watched this clip; our babies need nourishment and in the days before alternatives existed, these babies needed milk from a lactating mother, absolutely!
And yes, I too have heard of other mothers nursing each other’s children; in fact, I have heard of young grandmothers nursing their daughter’s children so that the daughter could continue working and providing for her family. The human capacity is so amazing, isn’t it?
I find myself tearing up at stories like this, even though I’m NOT pregnant!
Salma Hayek also inspires me and I was moved when I heard the story of this self-less act. Then, too, I found myself thinking, from my own paranoia of protecting my own breast-feeding infants, how does she know that she isn’t putting her own daughter at risk, even if this child had something innocuous as a case of thrush? She did second-guess herself, wondering if she had been “disloyal” to her daughter by breast-feeding another child, which I don’t believe she was. I’ve always been in awe of “wet nurses” or those who donated their milk for infants at risk. I’ve even heard of mothers who would nurse each other’s infants while taking care of them. I think you have to have a very close relationship and trust each other to do that—and to talk about it in advance!
I got a link to this video from a friend of mine yesterday and it’s gone viral amongst all the women I know. I love it. Moving indeed. Selfless gesture and one that other mothers can certainly identify with.