Knocked Up Celebs

Salma Hayek has just launched the second annual Pampers/UNICEF program to stop the spread of maternal and neonatal tetanus. Last year, the program provided money for more than 45 million tetanus vaccines. Salma has always been one for charity work…

“I’ve done a lot of social work, primarily with abused women and women’s rights. I had the baby and I had so much on my plate, and I said that this year, I’m taking a break from charity. I cannot do it all. But then this came along. And I said no. Then I read what it was, and I was so screwed because you cannot walk away from this one.”

I found the following story of what she did on a recent trip to the African country of Sierra Leone, where she saw the effects of the disease first hand.

“Before we got to the hotel, we stopped at a hospital. (A woman) was trying to breast-feed the baby, and the baby wouldn’t take it anymore. I said, ‘I think we shouldn’t be here.’ As we walked out, two to three minutes later, the baby died. I’ll never forget the look of desperation on that woman’s face. How can you not get involved, especially when you have a child yourself?”

And what she did for the next mother makes me want to cry…for how selfless Salma really is.

“The baby was perfectly healthy, but the mother didn’t have milk. He was very hungry. I was weaning Valentina, but I still had a lot of milk that I was pumping, so I breast-fed the baby. You should have seen his eyes. When he felt the nourishment, he immediately stopped crying.”

It must have been an amazing experience to help a child in that way.

Salma is keeping busy by being in six episode arc for 30 Rock where she plays the love interest to Alec Baldwin. She also runs two production companies and is considering two movie scripts she’d like to star in.

“I’m having a hard time picking because I don’t want to do violent things, I don’t want to do too-dark things, and I’m getting those offers. I’m being very picky. I haven’t worked in a long time, but I’m doing pretty great. I don’t want to go to a dark space right now.”

Salma will do great in no matter what she does…that I’m sure of.

[Images by WENN]

• Salma Hayek Takes Valentina For A Walk
• Jennifer Hudson’s Milk Mustache
• Kelly Rutherford Shares Her Nursing Experience
• Nicole Richie and Joel Madden Talk About Harlow
• Salma Hayek & Her Ice Cream Girl
• Salma Hayek Plays In The Park With Valentina
• Salma Hayek Pinault Covers InStyle Magazine
• Salma Hayek Is A ‘Grown Up’
• Salma Hayek Gives Valentina A Lift
• Salma Hayek Takes Valentina To Work

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