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“Breast is best”, experts say, but the decision to breastfeed is a personal one and nursing a baby doesn’t always come naturally to all women.
Recently, multi-talented Emmy winner Keke Palmer opened up about breastfeeding and the challenges she’s had since giving birth to her first child, Leodis "Leo" Andrellton, whom she welcomed in February with Darius Jackson.
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The Nope actress told People magazine that breastfeeding has been her biggest surprise about motherhood so far. “Although breastfeeding is 'natural', it’s not instinctual,” she says.
The 29-year-old said she had to go through the journey of figuring out how to breastfeed and had to deal with the pressure of doing it right. It was a bit of “a doozy” for the singer.
Eventually Keke found a lactation consultant who guided her through breastfeeding.
“You don't even really know what to search,” Keke explains, “and how to really prepare yourself for something like that. So, shout-out to all the lactation consultants because mine really, really made the difference for me.”
The Hustlers star adds that having a lactation consultant is “kind of like a luxury” and that not everyone gets the support they need.
Here’s a look at other celebrity moms who have been candid about breastfeeding over the past few years:
Khloé Kardashian
Khloé (39) has been open about the challenges she had bonding with her 11-month-old son, Tatum Thompson, whom she welcomed via surrogacy but she has also spoken about the difficulties she experienced breastfeeding her daughter, True Thompson, in 2018.
The reality star described the act as “painful” as she was not able to produce large amounts of milk. In a tweet, she shared that she had to pump milk every time True was sleeping. “I guess due to stress my milk was not coming in. I tried and I just couldn’t give her enough. So, I had to go to formula,” she said.
“I tried literally everything! Doctors came to check, I met with the lactation specialist, I did power pumping, I drank the tea, ate the cookies, did special massages, etc. it just wasn’t working for me. Once True started losing weight because of it, I had to give her formula.”
She said it was emotionally taxing for her to stop breastfeeding because it wasn’t working for her body but was she relieved when she didn’t have to stress about it anymore.
Amanda Seyfried
When the Mean Girls actress gave birth to her daughter, Nina, in 2017, she reached out to multiple friends for advice on breastfeeding.
“You become very desperate,” the Mamma Mia! actress told Us Weekly in April 2019. “Because up until recently, it’s like a hidden, closeted thing. Breastfeeding is incredibly hard. If you don’t find it hard, you are rare. A rare, lucky person.”
By the time the 37-year-old welcomed her second child, Thomas, with her husband, Thomas Sadoski, in 2020 she’d found a new love for helping and sharing her experiences with other moms struggling with breastfeeding.
“I gave myself two days off in the first week so I wouldn’t be scared and sad every time she [Nina] woke up to feed,” she commented on actress Claire Holt’s Instagram post, where Claire expressed self-doubt over breastfeeding her first child, James Holt Joblon.
“And it helped so much. No guilt. Just pump and bottle. And then did both throughout. Less pressure. You’re not alone.”
Amy Schumer
The 42-year-old comedian and her husband, Chris Fischer, welcomed their son, Gene Attell Fischer, in May 2019.
The first-time mother shared in December of that year that she decided to stop breastfeeding a month after Gene was born and made the switch to formula.
“I wanted him to get the colostrum [the nutrient-dense substance contained in breast milk just after birth],” she said on the Informed Pregnancy and Parenting podcast.
“We had a lactation expert come over. He didn’t latch and I just didn’t feel that push to make that happen. Then I pumped for like the first month. Then I was like, ‘Not for me’ . . . this is not for me and I didn’t want to do it.”
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She acknowledged that some mothers love it and that she was happy for them but said she was proud of herself for doing whatever she needed to do in order to give her baby the colostrum and milk for the first month.
“You matter, and it’s going to be better for your baby that you’re okay,” she said. “All generations were raised on formula.”
Hilary Duff
The 35-year-old actress told Dr Elliot Berlin on the Informed Pregnancy podcast that breastfeeding has always been "really hard” for her. Hilary is mom to son Luca (11) and daughters Banks (4) and Mae (2).
"I'd say it was the easiest with Luca. All of the babies latch really great, I'm just not a huge milk producer, so it's emotional for me," she says.
The Cheaper by the Dozen actress said that she suffered anxiety about not producing enough breast milk for Mae.
She took to Instagram with a lengthy post sharing why she decided to stop breastfeeding Banks in 2018 after six months.
“Pumping at work sucks. I had zero down time and am usually pumping in a hair and makeup trailer while four hands work to get me ready for the next scene with lots of other people around," she posted. "Even if I had the luxury to be in my own room, it’s not even considered a ‘break’ because you have to sit upright for the milk to flow into the bottles!” After six months, she moved to formula.
With Mae, it was painful to breastfeed, and it was even harder having two other kids who needed her so much.
"Whether you are pre- or postpartum, or just a busy mom, you are a superhero every day for all that you do. Always putting yourself last and running a mile a minute.”
SOURCES: PEOPLE.COM, USWEEKLY.COM, GLAMOUR.COM, PEOPLE.COM
