Video of Salma Hayek Cross-Nursing

Actress Salma Hayek took a humanitarian trip to Sierra Leone in an effort to fight preventable deaths from tetanus. Whether you are pro- or anti-vaccine, the piece is fascinating, in particular because Salma Hayek talks passionately about breastfeeding. ABC News reported:

Hayek’s daughter, Valentina, turned 1 before the trip and the actress spoke about the importance of breast-feeding, especially in underdeveloped countries such as Sierra Leone. In fact doctors there say that because malnutrition is so rampant they would like to see women in Sierra Leone breast-feed for two years. But such behavior is rare. The reason? Men urge their wives to quickly stop breast-feeding because of cultural mores that forbid sexual intercourse with breast-feeding women.

In the video coverage, Salma Hayek cross-nurses a hungry 7-day-old baby. If you don’t have time to watch the whole 8-minute video, skip to about -3:15 to watch as she breastfeeds the baby and then talks about how it felt to cross-nurse. It’s a powerful piece and you might want to have a hanky ready! Salma Hayek might just be my new favorite actress/humanitarian/lactivist!