Adele’s Harsh Message to Those Who Put Undue Pressure on Mums to Breastfeed

Adele might just be our new hero, telling people who put undue pressure on mothers to breastfeed to go fuck themselves.

Speaking at one of her gigs at the O2 Arena in London over the weekend, the star let rip when a fan asked her what she thought about the topic of “breastfeeding mummies”.

“Breast-feeding mummies? You know what, it’s fucking ridiculous.

“All those people who put pressure on us, you can go fuck yourselves, all right?

“Because it’s hard. Some of us can’t do it. I managed about nine weeks with my boobs (I mean I trip over them I’ve got a very good push-up bra). Some of my mates got post-natal depression from the way those midwives were talking. Idiots.

“Breastfeed if you can but don’t worry, [formula milk] Aptamil’s just as good. I mean, I loved it, all I wanted to do was breastfeed and then I couldn’t and then I felt like, ‘if I was in the jungle now back in the day, my kid would be dead because my milk’s gone!”

“It’s not funny that’s how some of us think.”

The 27-year-old is mother to three-year-old Angelo, with her partner Simon Konecki

Adele’s breastfeeding statement came after celebrity chef Jamie Oliver pissed a whole bunch of women off last week by saying that they should breastfeed because “”It’s easy, it’s more convenient, it’s more nutritious, it’s better, it’s free.”

Many women, like Adele, try their hardest to breastfeed and for various reasons it just doesn’t work. They do feel enormous pressure to keep at it from midwives, family and friends and can really beat themselves up over it (I know this from experience). In fact there is so much pressure around the topic, the term “bressure” was coined to sum up the intense pressure and judgment that they feel if they either can’t or don’t want to breastfeed.

Everyone has an opinion and you just need to look at any Facebook thread or internet forum where this comes up, if you’ve admitted that you struggled with breastfeeding and ditched if for formula, there are any number of people who will tell you that you are a failure because “breast is best”. Even random people feel that it is okay approach bottle feeding mothers in public and demand to know why they aren’t breastfeeding, like it is any of their business (this happened to me with my first two kids – I think by kid three my resting bitch face had set in or I just gave off a “don’t even DARE speak to me about this” vibe, because they left me alone).

I had milk supply issues with my babies, and I tried everything under the sun to increase my supply. Fenugreek. Pumping between feeds. Really expensive “lactation cookies”. Drinking water. Changing my diet. Nothing worked, and my babies were hungry.

Yes, there are lots of reasons why breastfeeding is great, and it does have a variety of health benefits for both mums and bubs, but Adele is right, without forumula, many babies wouldn’t survive, because their mothers can’t breastfeed – reasons including low supply, pain, latching issues and so on. It can feel extremely isolating when it happens.

But if a woman chooses not to breastfeed for lifestyle reasons? That’s her business as well. Until you can walk in someone else’s shoes and your exact set of life circumstances are the same as someone else’s exact set of life circumstances, you really can’t accurately judge and assess their situation.

Jamie Oliver received such a backlash over his comments, he was forced to backtrack a few days later and clarified on Twitter:

“It’s [breastfeeding] simply an area of interest following my nutritional studies over the last two years. I understand that breastfeeding is often not easy and in some cases not even possible but just wanted to support women who DO woman to breastfeed and make it easier for them to do so.

“As a father and father-to-be I would never wish to offend women or mums as I know how incredible they are and I would get a kicking when I got home! Jamie.”

Oliver and his wife Jools have four children, Poppy Honey Rosie, 13, Daisy Boo Pamela, 12, Petal Blossom Rainbow, six, and Buddy Bear Maurice, five. They also recently revealed they are expecting their fifth child.