Just watched #dispatches #BreastfeedingUncovered and as someone who is currently feeding a 8 month old it left me emotional and angry. A thread:

Breastfeeding is one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done but it’s also the best thing I’ve ever done. It totally sickens me that local councils are cutting breastfeeding support whilst the NHS encourages breastfeeding to new mums.

When Robin was only a few weeks old we had issues with reflux and extreme fussiness and I was in tears almost daily. When I contacted the NHS for help they told me about a local breastfeeding group, which once they checked the details, realised that it’d been closed down.

We desperately looked into hiring a lactation consultant, but it was going to cost £120 for a few hours and on maternity pay it just wasn’t feasible. Luckily (thanks to online communities of other mums) I managed to get help and guidance and we fought through it.

Basic information about how actual breastfeeding works varies from midwife to midwife. From health visitor to health visitor. Women told their milk ‘isn’t enough’ or that their baby isn’t following a certain growth chart line. It’s stressful enough without the misinformation.

This isn’t a discussion about the choice women make. We should be free to feed our babes the way we want to. It’s the mums who want to breastfeed but fail due to lack of support that is the killer for me.

It IS important to share the benefits of breastmilk. 67% of people think formula has the same benefits which just isn’t true. By promoting the pros of breastfeeding you are not shaming women who can’t or chose not to. If we keep going by that rhetoric the rates will never improve

Finally, if you (man or woman, old or young) have an issue with women feeding their babies uncovered in public then you seriously need to ask yourself why. Breasts are NOT sexual organs. Breasts are NOT offensive and If you don’t like it; bye 👋🏻

Thank you @Quilton @alisonthewliss and the many other breastfeeding mums for raising awareness. This conversation needs to keep happening. As with many issues facing women, knowledge is power and support is key 🤱🏼#breastfeedingUncovered #breastfeeding #dispatches