Police Officer Breastfeeds 'Dangerously Malnourished' Baby

The new mom didn’t hesitate to feed the crying child while he waited for treatment

Leave it to a mother to jump in and save the day. A police officer from Buenos Aires, Argentina was on duty at a local children’s hospital when a severely malnourished baby was admitted. She saw that medics weren’t able to immediately attend to the little boy so she did what she could to help: She breastfed him until he stopped crying.

“I noticed that he was hungry, as he was putting his hand into his mouth, so I asked to hug him and breastfeed him,” Celeste Jaqueline Ayala said via Yahoo Finance. “It was a sad moment, it broke my soul seeing him like this, society should be sensitive to the issues affecting children, it cannot keep happening.”

Ayala was working at Sister Maria Ludovica Children’s Hospital when the infant was brought in. According to reports, the child’s mother was struggling to take care of the baby and he was brought in for treatment. The hospital staff described the baby as “smelly and dirty.” Ayala, a mom of a newborn baby, asked hospital staff if she could help and was given permission to hold and feed him.

“Things like that are not seen every day,” said fellow police officer, Marcos Heredia. “I want to make public this great gesture of love that you made today with that baby, who you did not know, but for who you did not hesitate to act like a mother,” he said, posted the now-viral image on his Facebook page.

The fire department Ayala works for also shared the image, saying, “We want to congratulate the voluntary firefighting cadet Celeste Ayala who yesterday in her job as police officer whilst she was on guard duty at the Hospital, breastfed a young child who arrived crying. Actions like that of this cadet fill us with pride and force us to redouble our efforts, work, and solidarity with our community.”

Ayala has been recognized by many for her selfless act, and it even earned her a promotion from officer to sergeant from Cristian Ritondo, Vice President of the legislature of Buenos Aires, writing on Twitter: “We wanted to thank you in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby’s cry.”

It’s amazing to see a total stranger step in to help this innocent child in such a natural, loving way.