Shawn Johnson's Lactation Consultant "Basically Said I Had Ruined My Child's Life"
People. It’s 2020. Tiffany Haddish is out there eating Kool-Aid pickles for crying out loud, and yet people have to come after moms for feeding their babies regular-old formula? Come on now.
The latest victim of adult women’s bizarre propensity for giving other adult women shit for simply feeding their kids is Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson East, who opened up to People this week about her struggles with breastfeeding as well as the mom-shaming that came with her need to switch to formula.
“I had a really bad experience with a lactation consultant and I all but kicked her out of my house because she basically said that I had ruined my child’s life because I gave her a bottle and formula,” Johnson East told People. “I was like, ‘You know what? I can’t listen to this anymore.’”
She explained that breastfeeding just wasn’t easy between her and her daughter Drew Hazel East, telling the publication that “It was a wrestling match every time. I would be bawling, she would be bawling and screaming ’cause she was hungry, but she wouldn’t eat and she wouldn’t latch anymore.”
Johnson East added that overall, her work with the lactation consultant was a “baffling experience of a desperate mom trying to take the best care of her child and getting shamed for it.” Wow, moms doing their best and still getting shamed? Raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced that (hi, both hands here).
Luckily, it seems Johnson East and little Drew have found their footing with feeding, via a combination of pumped breast milk and formula; in fact, Johnson East was recently named the first-ever spokesperson for formula company Enfamil.
“When people give their opinions and say ‘breast is best,’” Johnson East told People, “it just makes you feel like a failure.” It certainly does — and feeling like a failure is the last thing already-stressed moms (who are, by the way, still feeding their children a healthy diet via formula) need.
A little reminder? According to the ACOG Committee on Obstetric Practice and Breastfeeding Expert Work Group, “Obstetric-gynecologists and other obstetric care providers should support each woman’s informed decision about whether to initiate or continue breastfeeding, recognizing that she is uniquely qualified to decide whether exclusive breastfeeding, mixed feeding, or formula feeding is optimal for her and her infant.”
The keywords here? “She is uniquely qualified to decide.” She being the mom. Of the baby. Not you. Cool? Cool.
See more celebrity moms who have struggled with breastfeeding, below.