First of all, if the topic of breastfeeding makes you feel uncomfortable, stop reading right now.
Salma Hayek, producer of one of my favorite shows, "Ugly Betty," is in the news again because of her devotion to breastfeeding. Last fall she was all over the internet because she admitted that she was still breastfeeding her 13-month-old daughter. One "expert," a "licensed psychiatrist" (licensed over the internet??) even claimed that breastfeeding beyond 1 was a form of child abuse! And that it creates emotionally damaged children. Do my children look emotionally damaged to you? Other lechers wrote in about how they wanted to be in line for breastfeeding. Nice. Way to take a beautiful thing and pervert it.
Well, the latest thing Hayek has done is to take a humanitarian trip to Sierra Leone to fight tetanus, which is one of the top causes of fatalities among women and children there. While there she learned about the extremely low rates of breastfeeding, even though it not only nourishes the babies but also protects them from disease.
She was so touched by this news that she decided to offer her own breast to a 1-week old hungry African baby (presumably with permission from his mother). It has caused a firestorm on the web, adding to the earlier fire. Most web sites are full of comments supporting Hayek, but others accuse her of seeking publicity or being condescending...and some even saying that she's being unfair to her own child (which seems bizarre to me)
All of this just illustrates to me the unhealthy attitudes we have in this country about breastfeeding.
Watching the video brought tears to my eyes. She did a beautiful, honorable thing in my opinion...and she did what any caring mother would do if she could find a way to offer tangible help to another woman's child. She fed the hungry.
Here is a brief video about the story, and if you are interested in watching the whole video or reading more, click here.
Salma Hayek, producer of one of my favorite shows, "Ugly Betty," is in the news again because of her devotion to breastfeeding. Last fall she was all over the internet because she admitted that she was still breastfeeding her 13-month-old daughter. One "expert," a "licensed psychiatrist" (licensed over the internet??) even claimed that breastfeeding beyond 1 was a form of child abuse! And that it creates emotionally damaged children. Do my children look emotionally damaged to you? Other lechers wrote in about how they wanted to be in line for breastfeeding. Nice. Way to take a beautiful thing and pervert it.
Well, the latest thing Hayek has done is to take a humanitarian trip to Sierra Leone to fight tetanus, which is one of the top causes of fatalities among women and children there. While there she learned about the extremely low rates of breastfeeding, even though it not only nourishes the babies but also protects them from disease.
She was so touched by this news that she decided to offer her own breast to a 1-week old hungry African baby (presumably with permission from his mother). It has caused a firestorm on the web, adding to the earlier fire. Most web sites are full of comments supporting Hayek, but others accuse her of seeking publicity or being condescending...and some even saying that she's being unfair to her own child (which seems bizarre to me)
All of this just illustrates to me the unhealthy attitudes we have in this country about breastfeeding.
Watching the video brought tears to my eyes. She did a beautiful, honorable thing in my opinion...and she did what any caring mother would do if she could find a way to offer tangible help to another woman's child. She fed the hungry.
Here is a brief video about the story, and if you are interested in watching the whole video or reading more, click here.
I don't understand why people get so freaked out about breastfeeding either. It's natural and it's incredibly good for the baby...how can that be bad? One of the bloggers I follow, Stephanie Nielson of the nieniedialogues did a beautiful post several years ago about nursing her niece or nephew soon after her sister-in-law died of cancer. It was so refreshing to read a post so positive about the benefits of breastfeeding, and to read about a woman so young (she was in her early twenties when she posted it) who was such a proponent of breastfeeding.
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