Alyssa Milano on Her Mission to Normalize Breastfeeding: 'I Can't Believe This Is Still an Issue'
Alyssa Milano is continuing her mission to normalize breastfeeding.
While the actress and advocate has always been a proponent of breastfeeding, her support for its normalization picked up steam after welcoming her own kids: daughter Elizabella Dylan, 3½, and son Milo Thomas, who turns 7 this month.
“I loved having that closeness with them and having that alone time with them,” she tells PEOPLE of her experience, adding, “I loved breastfeeding more than I thought I would.”
The Insatiable star, who has teamed up with MomsRising and Care2 to spread that same belief to the masses, worries that women are foregoing the “natural human function” due to public misconceptions.
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A post shared by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa) on Jul 28, 2018 at 6:18pm PDT
A post shared by Alyssa Milano (@milano_alyssa) on Jul 29, 2018 at 1:02pm PDT
Milano, 45, is also using this opportunity, during World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7), to call out formula companies that “have worked to undermine women’s confidence in breastfeeding, especially low-income women living in developing countries.”
Her mission: To educate women on the benefits of breastfeeding, as well as to shine light on the shaming that women who choose to breastfeed encounter on a daily basis.
“I can’t believe this is still an issue,” says Milano. “When people tell a nursing mom to go in the bathroom to feed their baby, it’s like telling someone to go in the bathroom to eat their sandwich. Would you eat your lunch in the bathroom? Or under a blanket?”
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The actress has been candid about her own experience with being shamed when she was still breastfeeding, but the negative reactions she faced didn’t seem to deter her from nursing both her kids.
She would go on to share candid breastfeeding selfies on Instagram and even appeared on The Wendy Williams Show in 2016 to debate the host on the topic of breastfeeding in public.
“Don’t be ashamed. Stand up for your rights,” she shares, advising new moms on how to handle a similar situation. “Try to educate the person if possible. And just enjoy this magical time with your child.”
