Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson has admitted that she was worried about 'being judged' after choosing to bottlefeed her son, Leo Hunter. Louise welcomed Leo, who is now 18 weeks old, into the world towards the end of 2021 with fiancé Ryan Libbey, and has been candid about her journey through motherhood so far.
After giving birth to Leo in November, Louise disappeared off social media for several weeks, coming back right before Christmas to share details of her poor health after having her son. And now, the reality star and influencer has confessed her fears to her 1.4 million followers over choosing how she feeds her son, and how other people may perceive her decision.
Taking to Instagram, Louise admitted: "For a while I was mindful about posting anything with Leo and a plastic bottle in it beause I thought I would be judged. I remember when I first came home I told Ryan that he couldn't post an insta story because it had a bottle in the back of shot.
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"I was constantly on the look out for those ugly little things. Of course, I'd prefer to display all the natural, wholesome, skin on skin kinda look.... but that wasn't a reality for me. I didn't have a choice in the matter, so I shouldn't have put so much blame on myself for 'not choosing, but choosing' to bottle feed our son."
Louise then added that she feels it is 'important' to highlight experiences like the one she has had to 'break down the stigma' attached to bottle feeding and other challenges faced by parents. She said: "The truth is, there are lots of women who can't breast feed and many of those women feel racked with guilt because of what society sees as the optimal option.
"It's funny I always hated the 'breast is best' label that was thrown around during the online NCT classes I did. Most lactation specialists take the general stance that you should 'keep going, you can do it' because the think many mothers give up 'too soon' in their eyes."
The Made in Chelsea star also reflected on the 'gross' time she was encouraged to breastfeed following her first operation, with Leo being 'practically thrown' onto her as she was enduring one of the ten blood transfusions she had. She said: "I was too ashamed to say no so I carried on.
"Then I experienced excruciating pain as my damaged uterus was contracting (and bleeding), but I was told to keep on going. The funny thing is I was actually really good at it.
"Leo was amazing at latching and I had lots of milk, and whilst it was nice for bonding something about it just didn't feel right. Anyway it turns out I did know my body pretty well because the pain turned out to be serious and I ended up in intensive care where I lost my milk anyway.
"Sometimes people should accept that we know our own bodies best. There isn't always a one size fits all policy when it comes to health (or raising a child for that matter). So you do you."
After giving birth to Leo in November, Louise was admitted to the ICU whilst Leo was sent to the NICU. Leo made a quick recovery, but Louise was in hospital for over a month with serious complications, and revealed to her followers last year that she had a 'dance with death twice'.
Louise said, following the traumatic ordeal, that her perspective on life had changed, as she had been given a 'stark reminder of how short and sacred life really is'. Thankfully, she was allowed to go home just two days before Christmas, which meant she could spend Leo's first Christmas with him in the comfort of their own home.
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