Edwina Bartholomew: ‘Why breastfeeding battle angers me’

Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew reveals why breastfeeding feuds make her angry and how reflecting on her early days as a mum gives her PTSD.

Breast is best. It’s the mantra you will hear throughout your pregnancy and well into your baby’s first year of life. It’s true. Breast milk is a miracle juice that sustains babies and helps them thrive. But breastfeeding can also be a bloody battle.

After many sleepless nights and teary sessions on the couch, I can speak from experience that it doesn’t always come easy to every woman.

In hospital, your boobs will be poked and prodded by midwives, some with a gentle manner and others with a more get-it-done mentality. It’s intense on a level you have never experienced.

On the wall, there will probably be a sign warning of the day three blues when your milk comes in and all the feelings start flowing. That is just the start of the emotions you will experience, good, excellent, amazing and wonderful, but also sometimes challenging.

That’s why I was so angered to read this week about the ongoing battle within the nation’s peak breastfeeding organisation, the Australian Breastfeeding Association. They’ve now been locked out of their Facebook account and it’s been renamed ‘Breastfeeding Parents Australia’.

A lot of emotions come with breastfeeding, argues Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew.

Earlier this year the association was lambasted over a push to remove “mother” and introduce the use of “chest-feeding”. Some counsellors were sacked over the issue and clearly there is still a lot of bad blood.

It’s such a shame that this kind of public spat distracts from the important work being done by medical professionals each and every day in maternity wards across Australia. Sure, they poke and prod but they are also getting on with helping fathers bond with their babies after surrogate births, they are sympathetically navigating what breastfeeding looks like for transgender parents and they are helping single mums juggle absolutely everything all at once.

Breastfeeding is personal. Breastfeeding can be hard. It may not work out for you. I didn’t know that before having my first baby. I did understand that before having my second and it removed a lot of the angst and allowed me to really enjoy those first months.

So enough of the Facebook feuds whether it’s the ABA’s page or individual mother’s groups. Breastfeeding, chest-feeding, formula-feeding, whatever works for you and your baby is the right answer.

And, hey listen, I still get post traumatic stress thinking of those really tough early days so if this has brought back lots of emotions for you, I’m right there with you.