Some mums produce enough breast milk to build a backup freezer stash.
But many women — including American actress and TV host Olivia Munn — struggle with low supply and end up feeling exhausted and defeated.
“I felt like my body was failing,” Munn, 41, revealed in an Instagram video posted this week.
“I worried I wouldn’t bond with my baby.”
Munn, who has starred in TV shows such as Hit-Monkey, Six, and The Rook, shares two-month-old son Malcolm with comedian John Mulaney.
She says she worked with two different lactation consultants to remedy the issue.
She also tried several breastfeeding pillows, lactation-boosting soups, teas and cookies, and liters of coconut water.
“None of it worked!” Munn shared with her 2.8 million Instagram followers.
“I cried and cried.”
“To the mamas out there — do whatever you need to feed your baby,” she wrote.
“And don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it.”
‘To the mamas out there — do whatever you need to feed your baby’ – Olivia Munn
In the clip, Malcolm is seen happily breastfeeding – and then smiling just as happily as he slurps down a bottle.
“I had the same issues,” one fan commented.
“It wore me out physically and emotionally.”
Added another, “THANK YOU! My OB told me ‘Breastfeeding, formula, he doesn’t care, just feed him.’”
Dr. Irwin Bruckner, a pediatrician in Encino California, tells mums and dads that breast milk is “A+” while formula is “a solid A”, meaning they are both excellent choices.
“There’s so much more to parenting than giving your baby breast milk,” he said.
“There’s smiling, there’s cuddling, there’s dancing.
“So if breastfeeding is wearing you down so much that you’re not doing those other things, it’s not worth going the extra distance to get the A+ in breast milk as opposed to the A in the formula.”