16 Celebrities Who Have Opened Up About Breastfeeding — The Joys, The Struggles, And Everything In Between
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This week is World Breastfeeding Week, and as a first time mom on my own breastfeeding journey, it really hits differently this year. In honor of the week, we're rounding up more celebs who've been incredibly candid about breastfeeding, addressing how hard it can be (even with immense privilege and so many resources available to them), sharing stories that are honestly so relatable, normalizing feeding in public, and most importantly, acknowledging that a fed baby is a happy and healthy baby — there is no "right" way to feed, and everyone is on their own journey.
1.Blake Lively joked about how "the first Monday in May" looked a little different this year. Historically, that's when she'd be attending the Met Gala, but this year, she shared a picture of her pumping breast milk for her newborn daughter who was born in February.
In a 2015 interview with Allure, Blake referred to breastfeeding as a "full-time job" and recalled times she'd literally pull over on the side of the road to pump.
2.Mandy Moore has openly posted about her breastfeeding journeys with both her first son Gus and her younger son Ozzie. She has been particularly candid about struggling with clogged ducts and mastitis — inflammation in the breast which most commonly affects people who are breastfeeding.
In honor of National Breastfeeding Week in 2021, Mandy posted on Instagram with a caption about her journey feeding Gus. "Breastfeeding is not always smooth sailing (clogged ducts, timing life around feedings, pumping for when I'm at work, etc…), but nursing this baby boy for the past nearly six months has been a beautiful, messy, and an oh so rewarding experience I will treasure forever. It goes without saying that #fedisbest and I'm grateful to my body and the tremendous support I've had around me (especially in the beginning days and weeks when I had no clue what I was doing) for allowing me this time to nourish my sweet guy."
3.Olivia Munn posted a super vulnerable video on Instagram about her struggles with breastfeeding, and when she had low milk supply, she tried several tricks to increase it — everything from trying different teas to seeing multiple lactation consultants to even hoping the pillow she used would make a difference, but it took a toll on her emotions.
Ultimately, she combo fed her baby Malcolm and shared the important message with fellow mamas: "Do whatever you need to feed your baby and don't let anyone make you feel bad about it. ❤️"
4.Keke Palmer opened up about the feeling of becoming a new mom and realizing you don't even know where to start when it comes to breastfeeding — her experience was trying to search for tips on the internet and then ultimately finding a lactation consultant who helped her tremendously.
5.Halsey has shared a number of photos from their breastfeeding journey, specifically normalizing feeding in public places.
6.Jodie Turner-Smith discussed how she had originally just wanted to try to breastfeed her daughter Janie for six months, but ultimately ended up on a 2-year breastfeeding journey.
"My boobs are deflated and reaching southward, but I wouldn't trade a minute of this journey for anything in the world," she wrote on Instagram. "Cheers to all the mummas on their breastfeeding journey and especially Black mamas — I see you!!!"
7.Ashley Graham opened up about how even though she exclusively breastfed her firstborn, she decided to stop breastfeeding her twins because it was no longer working for her.
8.Serena Williams opened up about her decision to stop breastfeeding her daughter Olympia at 6 months, which she made for the sake of her tennis career.
9.Kristen Bell discussed her struggles with clogged ducts and mastitis, even sharing a particularly harrowing experience involving her husband Dax Shepard sucking a clogged duct out for her.
"I said to my husband, 'I just need you to suck this out.' We could talk about it. We could be weird about it, or you could just go ahead and nurse," she revealed on The Ellen Show's series Momsplaining. "He pulled it out. He had a cup next to him. He was pulling out and spitting into this cup, and I've never been more in love in my life."
10.Kerry Washington opened up about something breastfeeding and pumping parents know all too well — the need to stop and pump while out and about. One part that might be a little, well, less relatable to us normies? One time she needed to stop to pump at a White House party under President Barack Obama.
She recalled the story on The Jennifer Hudson Show last year. "I was nursing at the time, and I remember I brought my pump with me, just in case. And thank God, because at 2 a.m., I was like, 'Can somebody show me a little closet where I can go and pump?' Because I'm not ready to leave this party!"
11.Katherine Schwarzenegger posted about breastfeeding while her daughter Eloise was going through a growth spurt — a time when babies tend to want to feed a lot more frequently or cluster feed.
12.Ashley Greene shared that breastfeeding her daughter Kingsley Rainn was "one of the worst experiences" in the beginning and revealed she had trouble with latching and using a pump flange that was the wrong size for her breasts.
13.Cardi B shared some sweet moments after feeding her son Wave last year, which isn't the first time she's shared publicly. Of course, Cardi famously was seen breastfeeding in her 2018 music video "Money."
Before she had her first child Kulture, Cardi told Rolling Stone she felt apprehensive about breastfeeding and worried that her breasts were too sensitive.
