A police officer who breastfed a ‘smelly and dirty’ baby neglected by busy hospital staff has been praised for her selfless act of kindness. Celeste Ayala, from Berisso, in Argentina, was on guard duty at the Sister Maria Ludovica children’s hospital when a baby was brought in suffering from malnutrition. Hearing the baby’s desperate cries and noticing the hospital staff were overloaded with work, Ms Ayala asked if she could hold and feed him.
As she started breastfeeding the baby boy immediately calmed down. Speaking to local media, Ms Ayala said: ‘I noticed that he was hungry, as he was putting his hand into his mouth, so I asked to hug him and breastfeed him. 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.’ According to local media, the baby is the younger brother of six siblings, whose single mother has been struggling to cope. Ms Ayala’s colleague, Marcos Heredia, said that the hospital staff called the baby ‘smelly and dirty’, but that Ms Ayala was not concerned. He took a picture of her breastfeeding the hungry baby and shared it online.
He said: ‘I want to make public this great gesture of love you made today for this little baby who you did not know, but for who you did not hesitate to act like a mother. You did not care if he was dirty or smelly, which is what the hospital staff called him. Good job mate.’ The local fire brigade, for which Ms Ayala volunteers in her spare time, paid tribute to her on Facebook, 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 these fill us with pride and obligate us to redouble the effort, the work and the solidarity with our community.’