(Photo courtesy of Glamour)

Gisele Bundchen, Jaime King, Gwen Stefani, and Miranda Kerr are among the celebrity moms who have helped glamorize breastfeeding recently — and now, with her buzz-inducing mom-and-baby photo image included in a spread for Glamour, cover girl Olivia Wilde has joined their proudly lactating ranks. “Breastfeeding is the most natural thing,” she told the magazine, regarding the pose in which she’s wearing a Roberto Cavalli dress and Prada shoes while nursing her naked infant son. “I don’t know, now it feels like Otis should always be on my breast.” Wilde added, ”Being shot with Otis is so perfect because any portrait of me right now isn’t complete without my identity as a mother being a part of that.”


It was a fitting message coming from Wilde, film star and former cast member of “The O.C.,” who seems to be a champion of maternal health around the world, judging by her appearance at UN Global Moms + Social Good Conference this past spring. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) encourages breastfeeding for at least six months, and Wilde’s son is already 5 months old. The timing of the image couldn’t have been better: We’re in the midst of World Breastfeeding Week, during which the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, with the support of WHO and UNICEF, is busy promoting the health benefits of nursing in 175 countries around the world.

Plus, just last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its annual Breastfeeding Report Card (with stats from 2011, the most recent available). It found that the percentage of babies who start out breastfeeding is continuing to rise — just over 79 percent in 2011 — but that it quickly declines, with 49 percent still nursing at 6 months and just 27 percent by the end of their first year (so kudos, Ms. Wilde). And Wilde’s state of residence, California, ranks at the top when it comes to the percentage of infants that start out nursing — 92.8 percent — as well as those who are still being exclusively breastfed at 3 months, with 56.1 percent in that category.


Wilde’s Glamour photo has been enthusiastically received on Twitter, where she’s been called “stunning,” “glamorous,” and “my hero.” It’s also where Wilde herself thanked the magazine for “knowing there’s nothing indecent about feeding a hungry baby.”

A birth photographer has copied that Kim Kardashian naked selfie while breastfeeding her baby [Photo: Instagram/laceybarrattphotography]

A mum-of-four has copied Kim Kardashian’s divisive naked bathroom shot by posing nude while breastfeeding her 11-month-old baby. Yes we’re back on that selfie. But wait, before you click off and go put the kettle on, there’s a rather important sentiment behind this latest replica.

Birth photographer Lacey Barratt from Melbourne, Australia took to her various social media channels to share her version of the KK picture that broke the internet. The images shows the mum-of-four naked while breastfeeding her youngest child and the accompanying caption “‪#stopbodyshaming‪ its the same body if there is a baby attached or not,” was designed to call out social media on the double standards of body-shaming.

“I just felt the need to say this. As a woman who actively fights Facebook and other social media platforms for censoring birth and breastfeeding images, this has bothered me,” Lacey wrote in a short essay on social media.

“The double standard of body shaming I have seen because Kim Kardashian posted a censored nudie of her body. WHO CARES?! It is a woman’s body!! Only difference is a baby isn’t hanging off her boob…so does that now make it inappropriate? No way!”

“A woman’s body should be celebrated, regardless if there is a baby on the breast, or simply because, one feels like it. Lets be very very careful not to have the same double standard facebook has.”

“Neither one of these images are sexual. Just two women’s bodies at two very different times in their post partum and pregnancy walks.”

Mum blogger Constance Hall also replicated the naked selfie [Photo: Instagram/mrsconstancehall]

One of the images from Lacey’s Humans Uncensored Project [Photo: Instagram/laceybarrattphotography]

The mum-of-four has been vocal about body-shaming in the past [[Photo: Instagram/laceybarrattphotography]

Nicole Trunfio breastfeeding her son Zion on the cover of Elle Australia. (Photo: Elle Australia)

The Editor in Chief of Elle Australia Justine Cullen is defending her decision not to sell their now-iconic breastfeeding cover on the newsstand. “In an ideal world no one would have an issue with seeing breastfeeding on the cover of a magazine. But it’s not an ideal world,” Cullen wrote in a letter published on their site May 25th. 


When the magazine released photos of gorgeous cover model Nicole Trunfio breastfeeding her son Zion last week, it caused an immediate buzz on social media, accompanied by the hashtag #nomalizebreastfeeding. The response was overwhelmingly positive celebrating the stunning photograph of an intimate mother-and-child moment. “There is nothing more beautiful and powerful than motherhood,” Trunfio wrote on her Facebook page. 


However, the magazine quickly came under fire for sending the breastfeeding cover image only to subscribers. The newsstand picture features Trunfio holding Zion—fully clothed in Prada. It seemed curious that the magazine should celebrate openly breastfeeding only to hide it on the newsstand. Cullen has responded explaining why she felt it was so important to publish the image in the first place. “While there’s nothing provocative about breastfeeding, it is a provocative image to see on the cover of a fashion magazine, and it’s enabled us to contribute to a necessary conversation around normalizing breastfeeding and why that’s so important,” Cullen wrote. 

That breast pump may have cost you a pretty penny, but here’s a reminder for moms and their families when doing taxes this season: You may be able to deduct your breast pump and other lactation-related expenses on your taxes.


In November 2014, the IRS issued a ruling that lactation expenses fall under deductible medical expenses. “The Internal Revenue Service has concluded that breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation are medical care under 213(d) of the Internal Revenue Code because, like obstetric care, they are for the purpose of affecting a structure or function of the body of the lactating woman,” according to a statement by the IRS.

That means any costs related to breastfeeding or delivering breast milk to the baby are considered write-offs, including breast pumps, bottles, storage pads, and containers, according to certified public accountant Montgomery Dillavou. The ruling doesn’t apply to nursing bras and creams, according to Michelle Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the IRS. “When looking at the supplies, what really is included in this is any item used primarily for extracting milk,” Eldridge told CBS News.


In order to meet the requirements for deduction, the amount of your medical expenses should total more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, according to the IRS. But as anyone who has purchased lactation supplies knows, those costs add up quickly.

Seeking a quiet area of the zoo to breastfeed her 13-week-old son, Elizabeth Hunt Burrett ended up next to the glass of an orangutan enclosure. When a mama orangutan came over to watch, Burrett’s own mother captured a touching photo of the unlikely trio, which Burrett posted to Facebook on Tuesday. It has since been picked up by news outlets and shared from her personal page nearly 160 times.


Burrett’s post reads: “Just wanted to share with you all this amazing breastfeeding experience. While celebrating my daughter’s 3rd birthday at the Melbourne Zoo, my 13-week-old got hungry while we were in the orangutan enclosure. I took him into a quiet corner away from the crowd to feed, then this happened. … This mummy came to investigate and she watched the whole feed. It was the most beautiful thing!”

There were actually two orangutans that Sunday interested in Burrett and her son. “It started out with just one,” she told Radio 774 ABC Melbourne. “Then another came over who seemed to be a bit older than the first one. She gave me a bit of a nod — it was absolutely amazing. Then the other one came back and watched the whole feed,” which lasted about 10 minutes.


The mom of two has redheaded children, and she wondered if the orangutan came over to see if she was breastfeeding one of the apes. “I thought it was funny,” said Burrett.

Is #breastfeeding the new #iwokeuplikethis? Doutzen Kroes, who had her second child in July, shared an image of herself pumping on Instagram. “Daily routine! I’m promoting breastfeeding, it’s the best for your baby when possible!” she captioned the photo. The former Victoria’s Secret spokeswoman is the latest model mamma to share a selfie of the intimate act. Miranda Kerr, Gisele Bündchen, Natalia Vodianova, and more have all led the charge in normalizing breastfeeding with some simple social media snaps.

Russian model Vodianova, who recently covered Glamour magazine, shared an image of her son Maxim suckling last year. Orlando Bloom’s ex Kerr announced she gave birth by posting a photo to Twitter with her newborn baby Flynn. But Bündchen’s made the most noise of them all. “What would I do without this beauty squad after the 15 hours flying and only 3 hours of sleep #multitasking#gettingready,” she captioned the photo of herself wearing a white robe, getting her hair, makeup, and nails done, all while daughter Vivian Lake Brady rested in one arm and ate. 

But while with each shared portrait, awareness spreads, Kroes has taken up the cause most fervently as of late. The 30-year-old also posed for Vogue Netherlands with her family, including husband Sunnery James and 4-year-old son Phyllon, while breastfeeding 7-month-old daughter Myllena. Kroes has made her motivation clear, why multiple models have become the face of breastfeeding is a mystery, especially because as Bündchen most clearly showed in her Instagram, a supermodel’s multitasking is very much unlike that of a non-famous mom’s. 

It's been two months since Cat Deeley gave birth to a baby boy, making her and husband Patrick Kielty first-time parents, but how has the 39-year-old adjusted to motherhood?

"'I'm besotted with the baby and really enjoying motherhood," the new mum told Closer magazine. The TV presenter revealed she has impressively shed her baby weight without stepping foot inside of a gym.


"People keep asking me if I've been hitting the gym, but I haven't," she said. "I think breastfeeding is key and it's worked well for me. Add to that running around after a new baby and you don't need to work out."

Cat opened up about how she took to becoming a mum for the first time, saying: "You have to listen to advice, then it's all about learning on the job. Nothing can prepare you for motherhood."

The star also took to pregnancy very naturally. "I'm actually fine. I'm not too bad at all. I'm looking forward though to this week being over so I don't have to wear high heels for a long time. There's been a lots of heels this week," the 38-year-old told E! News when asked about her pregnancy cravings at the time.

Kristin Cavallari posted a breast pumping pic on Wednesday morning after admitting to ET that her breastfeeding (and pumping) days are nearly behind her.


"The glamorous side of the #BalancinginHeels #BookTour," the former Hills star captioned the Instagram photo.

Cavallari gave birth to her third child, daughter Saylor James, in November, and was pretty adamant that three children are enough for her and husband Jay Cutler. "I'm done having kids," she told ET on Tuesday. "I got my girl, I'm good. We did it quick."


The 29-year-old reality star turned author added that she's not quite done with all the motherly duties that come with having a newborn. "I will still be breastfeeding for a few months," she said. "I'm looking forward to giving away my maternity stuff and breast pump. My girlfriends are all getting pregnant now."

That being said, Cavallari did have some advice for those first-time moms looking to breastfeed. "The first baby is tough because it's the first one and everything is new. I was sleep deprived," she recalled. "You get through it. The first year is hard. Don't stress, especially if you are breastfeeding. That hurts your milk supply."

Cavallari has been traveling more lately to promote her new book, Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making it all Work, and admits that it's difficult to say goodbye to her family. "It's still hard leaving my kids," she said. "I've been home for a few months, so it's the first time I've left Saylor."

This photo of an aunt breastfeeding her nephew has sparked a discussion about wet nursing [Photo: Facebook/The Milk Meg]

Take a look at the picture above. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the photo of a woman breastfeeding her baby. But when the snapshot was shared to Facebook it sparked an online debate, because the woman doing the breastfeeding isn’t the tot’s mother, but his aunt and the baby she’s feeding is her nephew.


Meg Nagle, a lactation consultant and blogger, shared the selfie on her Facebook page The Milk Meg earlier this week.

“My gorgeous little nephew,” she captioned the shot.

“While my sister was at work today I tried to give him a bottle of her expressed milk a few times (which he wouldn’t take). I could see he was tired so I popped him on the boob and voila, he was asleep in minutes.”

Reassuring users she had asked her sister’s permission before breastfeeding her nephew, the 35-year-old explained: “Breast was last resort because I basically have no milk left,” she wrote.


Lactation consultant Meg Nagle is still breastfeeding her 4-year-old once a day [Photo: Instagram/themilkmeg]

The mum-of-three boys, who is still breastfeeding her youngest son, 4, once a day, was expecting some reaction to the post, but within hours it had attracted over 300 largely supportive comments, with many mums sharing their own experiences of cross-feeding.

A mom and volunteer firefighter is being widely praised on Facebook after a photo of her breastfeeding her infant while in uniform has gone viral.


“This is brilliant!” noted one of the more than 1,500 commenters on the image, posted Sunday by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) of Australia, in the state of Victoria. “I’ve been thinking of joining the CFA but wasn’t sure if it would affect breastfeeding! Well now I know. Thank you CFA!” The Facebook post has been liked by more than 38,000 people and shared more than 4,100 times.

The woman in the photo, Angela Joy, is the mother of four children under the age of 10. Her husband, also a member of the same firefighting station, snapped the picture of her nursing their infant at a community event. As noted by the CFA on the post: “One of the many faces of CFA in 2016. Just to clarify, this photo of Angela, a proud mum and CFA volunteer was taken at a community event. No fires nearby and a safe environment for her child.”


Joy spoke to the ABC network about how the photo wound up on Facebook. "A couple of days ago there was a request from the CFA for pictures that represented Australia,” she said. “While this wasn’t the iconic koala or gum tree firefighter image, I sent it in. To me it represented how grateful I am to be a firefighter in the CFA in a more mature Australia working for such a diverse organization.” She added that while she wasn’t aiming to normalize breastfeeding, if her photo helped with that in any way then she was proud — particularly regarding comments from women like the new mom who was thinking about joining the CFA.

Ronja Wiedenbeck and baby Rio [Photo: SWNS]

Ronja Wiedenbeck allowed five strangers to breastfeed her 11-month-old son after she was rushed to hospital suffering from abdominal pain.

The 26-year-old from Penzance was given strong medication for ovarian cyst related pain which left her unable to feed her hungry son, Rio.


Kind volunteer Michelle Netherton breastfeeding Rio [Photo: SWNS]

The single mother-of-two says she cried ‘tears of joy’ after being ‘totally overwhelmed’ with almost 1,000 offers of help. 


She added: “I was pumped full of morphine and it seemed instinctive for someone to feed him in a way that he has been used to and he’s comfortable with.”

Fiona Tupper nurses Rio in tandem with her own daughter [Photo: SWNS]

Mummy power! Jo Statham was another mother who came to the rescue [Photo: SWNS]

Over the course of her hospital stay, five different women breastfed Rio with two even taking him (accompanied by a trusted friend or relative) to their own homes to nurse during the day.

Of the women who rescued her hungry baby, Ronja said: “I will never be able to express my gratitude to each and every one of you, specially the angel mummy’s who have come to nurture my son. The adoration and sheer love and respect I have for you ladies is totally indescribable.”

An ad for a breathalyser aimed at breastfeeding mums has been banned [Photo: Rex Features]

A breathalyser which promises to help breastfeeding mums monitor their alcohol consumption might sound like a dream product, but an ad promoting such a device has recently been banned by the UK advertising watchdog.


The VicTsing digital alcohol breathalyser, for sale on Amazon’s Marketplace, a sort of version of eBay that allows sellers to advertise online, claimed to provide the same level of ‘professional accuracy’ as breathalysers used by the police.

The product was the brainchild of Chinese company, Shenzhen Weirongqun Keji, who under the VicTech brand, described the item as a ‘good companion’ for breastfeeding mums who want to know if they can feed their bubba after one too many glasses of prosecco.

But rival breathalyser company, AlcoDigital complained to the Advertising Standards Authority accusing the advert of over-egging the capability of the product, arguing that it was ‘irresponsible’ to say it could deem it safe for mums to feed their child.


One glass too many? The ASA said the advert was ‘irresponsible’ and ‘misleading’ [Photo: Rex Features]

Upholding the complaint, the ASA said the company’s ad didn’t provide any evidence that the product could provide results as accurate as a police breathalyser. And because of that breastfeeding mums could not necessarily rely on the outcome of the breath test. Banning the advert for making misleading and irresponsible claims, the ASA issued the following statement:

Mallory Bourn wants to spread the breastfeeding message [Photo: Instagram/mallorybourn]

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Mallory Bourn winced in pain as she struggled to get her newborn to latch onto her breast. The urge to give up and switch to bottle feeding was overwhelming, but the new mum stuck with it. 


Fast forward 14-months and Mallory has now become a breastfeeding advocate who wants to spread the empowering message that it’s not just ‘weirdos’ who believe breast is best beyond the first few months.


Originally only intending to breastfeed her daughter, Blythe, for three to six months, the 24-year-old now claims to be ‘addicted’ and even though her tot is now 14-months Mallory has no intentions of stopping just yet.

Mallory and her 14-month old daughter Blyth [Photo: Instagram/mallorybourn]

The new mum who writes about fashion and parenthood with her sister, Hattie on their blog Bourn Sisters says she is ‘emotionally attached’ to feeding her little one and claims it is one of her favourite parts of motherhood. So much so that she now ‘can’t help feeling a little jealous and replaced’ when she sees her little one using a bottle.


“Breastfeeding, for me, has been an amazing experience,” she said.

"I think I am addicted to the attachment and the closeness it brings, that powerful connection.

"When I think about stopping I feel really sad. I’m so attached to it and can’t imagine my day without those feeds - although I never expected to feel the way I do.”

“There is something so sacred about breastfeeding that I don’t think you can understand until you are a breastfeeding mum, and I am just not quite ready for it to be over yet.”

A photoshoot of a mother breastfeeding her two small children is going viral. Chelsea Craig, the mother in the images, is shown breastfeeding her two daughters, Addy and Emilynn, in photos taken by professional maternity photographer Mae Burke. 


The 28-year-old mother enjoyed the images Burke took. "I look at the expressions on my girls' faces and my expressions towards them, and it's a feeling that I get," Craig told People. "[Mae] put feelings into images. I told her, 'I want you to get us living life, and what it feels like for me to be their mother.' When I saw the pictures, it was just that." 

Burke is a mother of three children, and started her photography career in a unique way. "I thought breastfeeding photography could be a way to separate me from the masses of photographers in Fort Worth," the photographer told Buzzfeed News.


While the pictures make a statement about the hotly contested topic of public breastfeeding, Craig does not consider herself someone that wants to force others to accept her views on breastfeeding.

"I'm very confident in the decision that this is what's right for us," the mother told People. "I consider myself a supporter of women's rights and the choices that we make as moms. For some, that's breastfeeding until the kid is 7, for some that's breastfeeding until the kid is 2 weeks, for some it's not breastfeeding at all, and that's okay with me."


In February, several breastfeeding mothers held a protest at a food court in Australia, when a woman was told to leave for publicly breastfeeding her child. 

Facebook/Maria Corry

Recently, Maria Corry posted a photo of herself breastfeeding on Facebook. Shortly after, the North Carolina mom was shocked to learn it was reported more than five times as being inappropriate. 

Now, she’s trying to illustrate the double standard when it comes to the sexualization of the female body. 

Instead of sharing another run-of-the-mill breastfeeding selfie, Corry held up a photo of a scantily-clad Victoria’s Secret model to cover her baby.

“So since my breastfeeding photo which showed NOTHING got reported more than FIVE times, I’m posting this. I bet this won’t be reported, because you can see this picture in every mall you step into, huge and blown up outside the store,” she wrote on Facebook. “This is not frowned upon, or ever reported, as it is seen everywhere. But a women nurturing and feeding their baby is looked down on. That is completely absurd!”

Mum blogger Constance Hall recreates Kim K’s naked selfie and shares a body-positive message [Photo: Instagram/mrsconstancehall]

Too fat, too thin, too showy. Everyone from Bette Midler to Miley Cirus seems to have had an opinion on that Kim Kardashian naked bathroom shot. But the latest voice to wade in on the whole furore is controversial mum blogger, Constance Hall, who in her typical say-it-how-she-sees-it style is offering a refreshingly positive perspective, complete with copycat naked selfie!

In a post shared to her 508,000 Facebook and Instagram followers, the mum-of-four, re-created Kim’s now famous nude bathroom shot along with a body positive essay slamming Kim’s haters and explaining that the problem lies much closer to home with people praising only one version of beauty.

“Kim’s been called too fat, too thin, too fake, too everything,” she wrote. “Women looking like Kimmy K on Instagram is [sic] not the enemy. Believing that this is the only definition of sexy is the enemy. Sexy has endless variations, we might not all have this glamorous bathroom but we certainly all have our own sexy.”

The blogger thinks everyone has their own ‘sexy’ [Photo: Instagram/mrsconstancehall]

The 32-year-old went on to say that though she herself hates exercising she expects Kim has worked hard to get the body she has. Before ended her post by explaining that she ‘salutes all women’ whether they exercise or not.

And in her usual tell-it-how-it-is style, the parenting blogger couldn’t resist a playful swipe at Kim’s other half. “And, and let’s face it Queenies,” she wrote, “competing with a mirror for Kanye’s attention would be hard work.”

Stop the hating! The mum blogger has shared another body-positive message [Photo: Instagram/mrsconstancehall]

Like many of her other stoke-the-fire posts, this one also quickly went viral wracking up 68,000 likes on Facebook and nearly 3000 on Instagram. Many of her followers praised the blogger for her honest take on the situation.

“Kim looks amazing. And good for her to have the self esteem to love her own body. We need to stop judging each other, and ourselves. Every woman has beauty, a story to be told, a great strength. We need to be celebrating ourselves and others,” one commentator wrote.

“It’s important that as mothers and women that we stop putting pressure on ourselves to look like Kim K and others alike,” added another

The blogger previously encouraged mums to share untouched selfies [[Photo: Instagram/mrsconstancehall]

But though many agreed with Constance’s viewpoint, others criticised Kim Kardashian’s choice to share the shot in the first place.

“I agree there’s more than one definition of sexy. I’m totally sick of Kim Kardashian putting her body on display though. Everyone has a body and we have things we love and hate about our bodies but what is with this constant need for attention and approval?”

This isn’t the first time the mum blogger has created an online stir with her blog posts. Earlier this week we reported on her belief that parents should be naked around their children and last month she shared a blog detailing her brutally honest take on the realities of breastfeeding.

Love or loathe her views, she certainly knows how to create a buzz. Wonder what’s next on her must-write list?

This mum thinks parents shouldn’t be afraid to be naked around their children [Photo: Instagram/Mrsconstancehall]

Last month we wrote about mummy blogger, Constance Hall, who hit the headlines for penning a brutally honest post about the realities of breastfeeding. But it seems Constance has another parenting point to get off her chest and this one is causing equally as much controversy.

I advocate nakedness around your children, homes and husbands. I don't want my boys expectations of women to resemble...
Posted by Constance Hall on Monday, March 7, 2016

Taking to social media once again, the 32-year-old mum-of-four has written another blog about going naked around your children. 

“I advocate nakedness around your children, homes and husbands,” she wrote on Facebook and Instagram.

In an openly frank post the mum explained that she’s an advocate for nudity in the family home because she wants her children to be around realistic bodies and not just the ‘perfect’ bodies portrayed in the media.



“ I don’t want my boys expectations of women to resemble those that they see in magazines or TV nor do I want my girls expectations of themselves to,” she explained.

New research has revealed that mums who co-sleep with their baby are more motivated to breastfeed [Photo: Rex Features]

The issue about whether to sleep in the same bed as your baby is a controversial one with experts coming down on both sides of the to share or not to share debate. But a new study has revealed that mums who share a bed with their newborn are more motivated to breastfeed and more likely to keep it up for longer.


The British study used data from 870 new mothers in the North-East of England. For 26 weeks following birth, mothers gave information about whether they had breastfed and whether they had slept in bed with their baby for at least one hour in the past week. 44% of mums said that they “rarely” or “never” bed-shared, 28% did so “intermittently” and 28% said they shared a bed with their tot “often.”

More of the women who said they bed-shared often were still breastfeeding after six months. Those who sometimes shared a bed tended to breastfeed for around five and a half months, while those who bed-shared rarely breastfed for an average of just over three months.


Sleeping with your baby can help you reach your breastfeeding goals [Photo: Rex Features]

The research also found that mums who co-slept with their baby often had demonstrated more motivation to breastfeed during pregnancy. 70% who ended up bed-sharing often had said before birth that they viewed breastfeeding as important. Compared to about 56% among woman who went on to bed-share intermittently or never. Similarly, 95% of mums who frequently co-slept had expressed a strong intent to breastfeed during pregnancy, compared to only 87% and 82%, respectively, of mums who shared a bed with their baby intermittently or rarely.

One mum’s post about the benefits of breastfeeding has gone viral [Photo: Facebook Mallory Smothers]

Experts have long been shouting about the benefits of breast milk. But one new mum who saw for herself just how amazing it can be has shared her discovery on Facebook and the picture has since gone viral.

When Mallory Smothers noticed her baby had developed what she assumed was a cold, she continued to nurse her little one through the night before expressing more milk in the morning. It was only when she compared the bag of new breast milk, next to an older one that the new mum from Arkansas noticed the striking difference.

While the older milk was nearly white in colour, the more recent one was more yellowish in tone, appearing to resemble the colostrum or ‘liquid gold’ mothers produce in the first few days after having a baby and that experts believe contains antibodies to help fight illness and infection.

Taking to Facebook to reveal her discovery, Mallory wrote:

‘I didn’t notice a difference until today. But look at how much more the milk I produced Friday resembles colostrum (the super milk full of antibodies and leukocytes you make during the first few days after birth), and this comes after nursing baby with a cold all night long.’

Many new mums might be concerned about the noticeable difference in colour of the milk and assume something was wrong, but Mallory had recently read some research which explained that a mum’s breast milk can alter so that it caters specifically to a baby’s needs.

The research, published in the journal Clinical & Translational Immunology, showed that infections in mums and infants cause a rapid rise of leukocytes (a type of white blood cell that helps fight infection) in breast milk. Once the infection is over, the leukocyte count then goes back to normal.

Tom Hardy’s wife, Charlotte Riley, was forced to breast-pump in the toilet at the Oscars {Photo: Rex Features]

While Hollywood’s finest were busy sipping champers and swapping anecdotes at last Sunday’s Oscars, Tom Hardy was pacing outside the ladies loos waiting patiently for his wife, Charlotte Riley, to finish pumping her breasts.


“I’m just waiting for my wife to finish breast-pumping in the bathroom,” Hardy explained to a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, when asked why he was spending so much time in the Awards’ lobby. “She has to do it every hour.”


While it’s easy to chalk this up as a sweet anecdote of a devoted dad and husband, albeit a very famous one, let’s just think about that for a minute. In the absence of a dedicated nursing room, the wife of an A-list actor, herself a successful actress, was force to pump milk in the loo?! Er, what?


The fact that organisers of the world’s most celebrated Awards ceremony, couldn’t find it in them to properly cater for its breastfeeding stars, possibly speaks volumes about how nursing mums are treated by society in general.

Pumping your breasts is difficult enough without being forced to do so in a public toilet [Photo: Rex Features]

As any new mum will tell you, there’s nothing glamorous about pumping. It’s time-consuming, often inconvenient (imagine how much of a pain it was for Tom Hardy’s wife to keep hoiking down her floor-length frock) and sometimes a little embarrassing (have you ever heard the noise a breast pump makes?). So being made to pump in a public toilet just ramps up the difficulties. And that’s before we’ve even discussed the sanitation factor.

Breast pumping facilities have been called into question by some mums [Photo: Rex Features]

And it’s not just celebrities who are disillusioned with the facilities offered for breastfeeding mums. An annual global survey of 13,348 mums by leading breastfeeding and baby products brand Lansinoh has revealed a quarter of mums think the government need to offer more support. While an alternative survey by the Economic and Social Research Council found that better breastfeeding facilities in the workplace would encourage mothers to return to work sooner and breastfeed for longer.