A mum has hit back over comments made at a doctor’s surgery about being too old to breastfeed.
Stefania Giraldi took to her blog Mama’s Word after overhearing two women talking as she sat in a waiting room.
‘These two women were going on about, how in their opinion, a 42-year-old mother they know, is too old to breastfeed!’ Stefania wrote, adding they said ‘the woman’s milk was ‘certainly not nutritious enough and she should be formula feeding her baby instead.’
The outraged mum-of-two, who is still breastfeeding her three-year-old daughter after ‘six consecutive years of nursing’ said was ‘very familiar with judging looks and whispered comments’ and thought she had ‘heard it all’… until now.
‘I thought no comments could ever shock me any more on the topic,’ Stefania wrote in an impassioned post, which she gave New Idea permission to share.
‘And yet someone managed to do just that, SHOCK me with some uneducated opinion about a breastfeeding mother.
‘I am sure you are all familiar with the ” too old to breastfeed” remark, BUT have you ever heard it in relation to the MOTHER??
‘That’s right, these two ladies were going on about how a woman they knew, who is 42 years old, was, in their opinion, too OLD to breastfeed!!
‘And how her milk is probably not GOOD enough because of her age, to the disadvantage of the baby. A baby who they though would have been better off formula fed instead.
‘REALLY? Whaaaat? I was fuming,’ Stefania wrote.
‘I kid you NOT, a few minutes later my daughter climbs on my lap wanting the boob (talk about right timing), and needless to say, I granted her wish immediately.
‘NOW, I am not one that looks for confrontations or arguments, but I COULDN’T RESIST.
‘Obviously the ladies noticed I was breastfeeding (wasn’t hiding), I turn to them and I tell them: ‘By the way, I am 44 years old, 45 next June and my milk is perfect!’
‘The look on their face, priceless. Sorry, I felt good!’
Following her post, Stefania said she had received ‘tons’ of supportive messages.
‘You could never be too old to breastfeed but there is a time where you should stop acting 12 with gossip and uneducated criticism’,’ one person wrote.
Another commented: ‘I would have done the same thing. Two thumbs up to you.’
‘Mothers question themselves for a thousand different reasons, every minute of every day. They shouldn’t also be dealing with false and inaccurate information that can lead to wrong choices and decisions,’ Stefania concluded.
‘When it comes to the subject of breastfeeding …oh dear God! Nowadays, many have taken up the habit of defending their way of thinking.
‘Opinions can be wrong in themselves. Uneducated opinions can be damaging and must be corrected wherever possible.
‘That is why when I heard yet another ridiculous comment in regards to a breastfeeding mother, I HAD to fight back. And I did.’
Stefania isn’t the only mum to hit back over comments made about breastfeeding.
Former Neighbours star Natalie Hoflin shared an impassioned Instagram post, defending her right to breastfeed her 19-month-old son.
The actress, who played Carmella Cammeniti on the iconic show, said she felt judged by others because of her choice to breastfeed Finn ‘on demand’ as he heads towards his second birthday.
‘Oh, you’re still breastfeeding?!?! Shouldn’t you be done by now? You’ll cut him off by his second birthday right?’ In the early days questions like these didn’t bother me, they felt innocent,’ Natalie shared with her thousands of followers.
‘But lately the tone feels different. Judgment, disapproval. Like I’m a straight up weirdo.
‘I’m finding that breastfeeding proud part of myself starting to want to hide. Be more discreet with feeding, or wait until nobody is around.
‘Even though I’m proud of my breastfeeding journey and don’t intend to stop anytime soon (Finn is almost 20 months) the above questions still bring up feelings of embarrassment and shame.
‘It’s nuts, why on earth should anyone feel shame for connecting, nourishing, comforting, bonding with their child?’ the mum continued.
‘I understand what an absolute privilege it has been, for me to be a stay at home mum and have the luxury of building our breastfeeding relationship.
‘I am well aware that it’s not always that easy. But the truth of the matter is, this is my path, my truth, my journey and I shouldn’t have to be embarrassed or hide it.’
