Campaign to destigmatize baby feeding: Interview with a new mother
For new parents, it may be incredibly daunting to discuss how they plan to feed their babies, in a world which has stigmatised the bottle versus breast-feed debate. In order to break down this battle, I’ll be talking to mother of two twins, Beth, to see how she has navigated the feeding journey.
Transcript
00:00 It was just very, very difficult and there was a lot of, I felt there was a lot of pressure
00:04 to breastfeed. There wasn't any other options given.
00:06 A survey conducted by feeding bottle and childcare brand Tommy Tippy found that one in four parents
00:13 report that being judged for their parenting decisions has had a negative impact on their
00:17 mental health. But that seeing other parents sharing their parenting journeys on social
00:21 media has given almost three quarters confidence in their own parenting decisions.
00:27 Today I had a chat with Beth, a mother of 10-month-old twins, about how judgment culture
00:31 affected her introduction into motherhood and how she has dealt with it since.
00:36 Very early on into my pregnancy I was asked, "Do you plan to breastfeed?" And your natural
00:40 response is, "Oh yes, absolutely." Not thinking anything of it, just thinking it's the most
00:45 natural thing in the world that you want to do and of course you want to provide the best
00:49 for your babies. So with that in mind, I went on twin feeding courses and enrolled in online
00:57 courses on how to feed twins. I didn't know how difficult it would be.
01:03 It wasn't discussed. It wasn't an open discussion as like your childbirth preferences, for example.
01:09 There's a whole questionnaire that you go through about your preferences when you come
01:14 to give birth, but there isn't any about feeding. And it was never a conversation that was started
01:19 and therefore I didn't feel brave enough to start a conversation either, even with my
01:23 midwife or health visitor.
01:26 A new campaign has been launched by Tommy Tippy to challenge the stigma around how parents
01:31 choose to feed their babies. #TheSocialFeedCampaign is set to encourage parents to share their
01:36 stories on social media to tackle judgment culture around feeding choices.
01:41 My mum breastfed all of us, so I assumed that it would be quite easy and she always made
01:46 it look very easy. You know, the use of nipple shields, which I had no idea about all these
01:51 things that could, you know, could help with that. And that was massively, that was a game
01:55 changer using nipple shields. You know, why was this never discussed? You know, as you
01:59 go through the journey towards, you know, choosing to breastfeed, everyone's, you know,
02:04 breastfeeding journey is completely different and that should be celebrated. There isn't
02:07 a one size fits all. And yes, breastfeeding is the most natural way to do it. And breast
02:12 is best because your body knows what is for your baby. But if you are not able to, then
02:17 that's, that's okay as well. And there isn't enough said about that. There isn't enough
02:22 celebration about the diversity of people's journeys, you know, whether you have, are
02:28 lucky enough able to breastfeed, which is wonderful if you can, but if you can't, then
02:33 the next best thing is to, to use formula or to combination feed or whatever works for
02:41 you and it's okay because actually a fed, a healthy fed baby is a happy baby.
02:46 It's hoped that the sharing of feeding stories can break down judgment in order to build
02:51 a community based on compassion over criticism.
02:53 You've got to think about your own wellbeing as well, which is really, really important.
02:57 Trust your instincts, you know, trust your instincts and do what you think is best.