Police officer, Celeste Ayala was working as a guard in Sor Maria Ludovica children's hospital in Buenos Aires, when six children arrived.
Social services accompanied the children and the youngest was only six-months-old.
Crying and "dirty" the little boy was clearly hungry, and social services confirmed the poor infant was malnourished.
The Argentinian officer offered to hold and breastfeed the little boy, as hospital staff were overloaded with work.
One of the social workers agreed and the moment was captured by another police officer and shared on Facebook.
The amazing gesture quickly garnered huge attention on social media, racking up 155K reactions and 111K shares.
Speaking to local media, Ms Ayala said how heartbreaking the moment truly was.
"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."
Hailing the mother as a hero, her fellow officer on Facebook said he wanted to share the incredible scene as "things like that are not seen every day."
In the post he explained:
"I want to make public this great gesture of love that you had today with this little baby, that without meeting him you did not hesitate and for a moment you did as if you were his mother."
"You don't care about the filth and the smell..." he added.
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) 17 August 2018
Since the photograph surfaced, Celeste was promoted by Buenos Aires' police chief, Cristian Ritondo.
"We wanted to thank you in person for that gesture of spontaneous love that managed to calm the baby's cry," said the chief.
Ms Ayala also volunteers with the Bomberos Voluntarios Berisso fire brigade who paid tribute to her selfless act.
"Actions like these fill us with pride and obligate us to redouble the effort, the work and the solidarity with our community," they said.
