World Breastfeeding Week: Chrissy Teigen told bully 'you got titty issues' after trolled her over feeding pic
It is known and agreed upon that breast milk is essential for the proper growth of a toddler in its first year of life. Breast milk contains germ-fighting hormones and cells that help aid protection for infants against many health issues, including respiratory disorders, ear infections, gastrointestinal disease, asthma, obesity and sensitivities. As an added benefit for mothers, breastfeeding has been linked to lowering rates of breast cancer and other illnesses and helps women shed those post-pregnancy pounds.
Breastfeeding is a natural process but it is not always easy. Mothers need the right support to get started with and sustain the process. According to the World Health Organization, "Improving access to skilled counseling for breastfeeding can extend the duration of breastfeeding and promote exclusive breastfeeding, with benefits for babies, families, and economies. Indeed, analysis indicates that increasing rates of exclusive breastfeeding could save the lives of 820,000 children every year, generating US $302 billion in additional income."
Breast milk is a necessity for a child and providing nutrition to their baby is a mother's fundamental right and one shouldn't have to think twice before feeding their baby in any situation. A huge public debate has sparked across the world as people are yet to be unified on the topic of normalizing breastfeeding. People still look down upon a mother nursing her baby on a park bench or on the subway. So what goes into the minds of these people who are often branded as 'breastfeeding bullies'?
"Maybe they’ve never been around a relative or a friend who has breastfed, or maybe they consider breasts to be sexual objects and women’s bodies make them nervous," says Kelley Kitley, LCSW, a psychotherapist who specializes in postpartum issues, to The Bump. There are a lot of celebrities who have been putting in the work to normalize breastfeeding, including former model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen.
Chrissy has time and again posted photographs of herself breastfeeding her son Miles and has even hit back at trolls who shame her for doing so. One such photo was posted in the year 2018 where she was cradling Miles in her left arm and one of daughter Luna's doll in the right and it looked like she was breastfeeding both Miles and the doll. Chrissy is funny and staying true to her personality, she wrote, "Luna making me feed her babydoll so I guess I have twins now," in the caption and a certain troll branded her "narcissistic".
The tweet read, "I think it’s perfectly fine for women who breast feed in public. They are doing it because they need to. When you post on social media that you are doing it, it comes across as narcissistic though.” Hitting back at the Twitter user, Chrissy wrote, "Nah. Just chillin. Posting daily life like I do with anything else. Cooking, playing with dogs, etc. You make feeding a baby big deal because you got weird titty issues." And the Internet sang praises of Teigen. Her response led to the troll immediately taking down the tweet but the Internet was quick enough to take a screenshot so that breastfeeding shamers couldn't escape the heat.
The same month, Teigen also posted a selfie video of herself on her Instagram stories, highlighting the difficulties she was facing while breastfeeding. “Please look at my veins going to my milky boobs. What is this?” she said with a sad face.
Breastfeeding equips every child with the best possible start in life and it delivers health, nutritional and emotional benefits to both children and mothers. The UNICEF and WHO too put in a collaborative effort to raise awareness about it and the theme for this year's World Breastfeeding Week is "support breastfeeding for a healthier planet". The organizations are calling upon governments to protect and promote women’s access to skilled breastfeeding counseling, a critical component of breastfeeding support.
August 1-7 is World Breastfeeding Week and with this column, we highlight the journey of celebrity moms who advocate normalizing breastfeeding.