Salma Hayek explains why she once breastfed another woman's baby

Salma Hayek has opened up about the heartbreaking reason she decided to breastfeed another woman's child.

As part of a charity mission ran by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) - a humanitarian aid organisation - in 2008, the House of Gucci star visited Sierra Leone.

The 56-year-old, had given birth to her baby daughter, Valentina Paloma Pinault, a year before, in 2007.

Little did she know she would end up feeding another woman's small child upon going out to the west African country.

Prepare for your heartstrings to be tugged:

Hayek was on stage at the UNICEF Ball in 2018 when she opened up about her experience in Sierra Leone.

Hayek recalled how during her trip she visited a hospital and came across a 15-year-old girl 'sobbing and shaking'.

Hayek continued: "[She had] a newborn baby and she said, 'Please help me'."

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The young mother told Hayek she desperately needed milk.

Hayek reflected: "We had so many things but we didn’t have milk - except I remembered that I had milk because I was weaning my daughter. I just weaned my daughter from breastfeeding not long ago and I said, 'I got milk'. I sat down and I breastfed this baby."

The moment was recorded as part of UNICEF's campaign and the video was later shown on ABC's Nightline.

In the footage, the actor states: "He [The baby] was very hungry – I was weaning my daughter Valentina, but I still had a lot of milk, so I breast-fed the baby. It was amazing because he’s really looking at me and he’s very little. My baby is one year so she can suck a lot harder."

ABC

Hayek was told by doctors mothers in Sierre Leone sometimes stop feeding their babies because of pressures they face from tradition - sometimes partners refuse to have sex with a woman if she's still breastfeeding a child.

According to UNICEF: "The maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is the highest in the world with 1,360 mothers dying in every 100,000 live births.

"The mortality rates of neonates, infants and children under five are also amongst the highest globally at 34, 82, and 111 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively."

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Hayek told CBS she faced backlash for breastfeeding someone else's baby and was accused of being 'disloyal' to her own child by 'giving her milk away'.

However, she told co-anchor Cynthia McFadden of ABC's Nightline she thought her daughter would be 'very proud to share her milk' with a child in need.

The actor resolved: "And when she grows up I'm going to make sure she continues to be a generous, caring person."

If you want to donate to help children in Sierra Leone, you can via UNICEF's website.