I'm very pleased to share this round-up of celebrity breastfeeding news for 2011, wonderfully written by Amber McCann, lactation consultant, owner of Nourish Breastfeeding Support, and pop culture officionado.
A special thank you to Kelly, who wrote these round ups for 2007, 2008, 2009,and 2010!
I am a wife and mother first. An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) second. And absolute lover of all things celebrity/reality TV/famous people third. Well...actually, there are many other things in my life more important than my "all things celebrity" obsession but I will admit to finding greater joy in a People magazine than in Better Homes and Garden or the New York Times! It was a great year for stories about breastfeeding among the Hollywood set so let's celebrate the end of the year by looking back at some fantastic moms (and dads!) and their babies.
Miranda Kerr: Another example of a mama who is proud to breastfeed and let the world know it! Miranda, a supermodel and one of the faces of Victoria's Secret, and her actor husband Orlando Bloom, welcomed baby Flynn in early January and soon shared a beautiful photograph of an early breastfeeding moment. She continued to be publicly supportive of breastfeeding moms by publishing several posts about breastfeeding on her Kora Organics blog and famously tweeting about breastfeeding backstage at several fashion shows.
Pink: Singer Pink and her motocross-legend husband, Carey Hart, became parents when Willow Sage joined their family in June. She spoke lovingly about her husband's role in their family and famously said, "As long as my boobs are at home at a certain hour, I can do whatever I want." She is learning to balance motherhood and her career in front of the whole world.
Mariah Carey: Big thumbs up to Mariah and her husband, Nick Cannon, for breastfeeding their twins, Moroccan and Monroe. Unfortunately, they fell victim to some less-than-evidence-based advice regarding drinking dark beer as a way to bring in a milk supply quickly. (For more information about the effect of beer on milk supply, check out this excellent post by Best for Babes and Diana Cassar-Uhl). But more than that, they fell victim to unethical healthcare workers who not only gave bad advice, but called in Child Protective Services when she followed it. Now, we don't know exactly how the whole thing went down but, as a fellow mother, I can't imagine the stress and strain an investigation in the first days of parenthood would bring. My heart goes out to all of them and I want to give them a big thumbs up for doing everything they could do to breastfeed their babies.
Of course, these are just 6 great celebrity breastfeeding stories but thankfully, there are many more! Also check out what Laila Ali, Ali Landry, Kim Zolciak,Tia Mowrey, and Alyssa Milano had to say about their breastfeeding experiences.
2012 is already heating up as a great year for new celebrity babies. I'm looking forward to see how Beyonce, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, and breastfeeding pros Jennifer Garner and Maggie Gyllenhaal all bring breastfeeding to the forefront of pop culture this year!





