An on-duty Argentinian police officer is being hailed a hero for displaying her maternal instincts by breastfeeding a hungry child at a hospital in Buenos Aires.

Stationed at the city’s La Pata Children’s Hospital, officer Celeste Ayala jumped into action when she witnessed a malnourished and dirty child crying for food.

The picture, showing Ayala’s gesture of kindness, was posted to Facebook by a colleague, who said that he wanted to reveal to the world the “great love” that was shown to the hungry child.

“I want to make public this great gesture of love that you showed today with that little baby. Without knowing her, you didn't hesitate and for a moment you fulfilled [the role as] if you were her mother,” Marcos Heredia posted.

The social media snap has since gone viral, garnering more than 155,000 views.

It’s unclear where the parents of the baby were but reports suggest the officer was given permission to feed the child with hospital staff overwhelmed with tasks at the time.

Hoy recibimos a Celeste, la oficial que amamantó a un bebé en el Hospital de Niños de #LaPlata para notificarle su ascenso. Queríamos agradecerle en persona ese gesto de amor espontáneo que logró calmar el llanto del bebé. La policía que nos enorgullece, la policía que queremos. pic.twitter.com/8aBp0Xj4Zj — Cristian Ritondo (@cristianritondo) August 17, 2018

Ayala has since been rewarded by the local government with a promotion. Buenos Aires Security Minister Cristian Rotondo said that she was the type of police officer the force wants.

“Today we received Celeste, the officer who breast-fed a baby at thechildren's hospital to notify her of her promotion,” he tweeted. “We wanted to thank her in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby’s cry. The police that make us proud, the police we want.”

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