Mother reveals pressure she felt for not breastfeeding her baby girl | Colorful Life

Breastfeeding is one of the most natural things in the world – and yet it still sparks debate today.And former TV reporter Casey Lawrence has spoken out about the difficulties she faced when she tried desperately to nurse her baby Ivy May.The Australian wife of NRL star Brenton Lawrence said she had no choice but to bottle feed her seven-month-old daughter with expressed milk.Despite this, she revealed how she had to put up with the constant judgement she suffered from other mothers for choosing not to breastfeed.’So it’s World Breastfeeding Week…a week, according to its website, aimed at helping to inform and encourage mothers around the world to breastfeed,’ she said.’Great! It sounds like a really worthwhile cause. But as per usual, the social media mummy “influencers” have taken it to the next level. Share this article Share ‘As someone who tried and tried and tried but couldn’t breastfeed, I have a real aversion to the words “giving up” and “quitting” used around the subject of breastfeeding.’And I’m seeing them thrown around so much at the moment. It is such an insult. Why, why, why do women feel the need to use terms like this to describe another woman’s decision?’Casey explained she was taunted for ‘giving up’ or ‘quitting’ simply because she went down the path of bottle feeding her child.’It’s often heartbreaking enough having to make that choice only weeks into motherhood, only then to be judged by society as giving up or quitting,’ she said.’As someone who has been through that guilt, I now look at my beautiful seven month old little girl and realise I didn’t give up, I didn’t quit.’I made the very best decision I could have made. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for breastfeeding, I’m praying that I’ll be able to breastfeed our next baby.’But I don’t believe we need to continue this constant and vicious cycle of putting down new mothers with s*** cliches.’Let’s throw them out and start using more supportive language. It needs to start with mums.’She shared an intimate black-and-white photograph of her doting husband bottle feeding their daughter when she was three weeks old.’I’m so blessed that while I would be stuck to the double pump expressing, Beej got to spend quality time with her,’ she said.️’But ultimately I decided I wanted that quality time as well, and now every time I feed my daughter and our eyes lock together, I think to myself how lucky I am to have that bonding experience.’It’s one of the most beautiful experiences I have as a mum.’Earlier this year, Casey revealed the pressure she felt as a mother after her baby refused to be breastfed shortly after birth.’It was a whole lot of heartache, guilt and anxiety. Despite producing an ample amount of milk, our little Ives just refused to feed from me,’ she said. ‘It wasn’t until I had Ivy that I realised the pressure placed on new mums to breastfeed. And with pressure from outside sources, comes the increased pressure you place on yourself and then increased guilt when i