The NHS has told new mums to breastfeed in order to lose weight and get back into shape after giving birth. Yes really.
On its Start4Life website – a program meant to support pregnant women and new moms – the health service tells women “seven things you might not expect when your baby is born”.
Number seven on the list is the fact that you might look pregnant for a while after giving birth.
“It may take six weeks for your uterus to return to the size it used to be, and even longer to lose the extra weight,” the site says. “Breastfeeding is a great way to recover your body, as it burns around 300 calories a day and helps your uterus shrink faster. Also, try eating healthy and exercising gently.
The advice sparked outrage online after it was shared by London-based writer Maggy Van Eijk, who has a three-year-old daughter and is 38 weeks pregnant with a baby boy.
“Toxic AF from the NHS week by week pregnancy guide,” she tweeted.[Breastfeeding] is not a weight loss tool. Your body never went anywhere – you don’t need to take it back, it changes, evolves and grows and it will continue to do so until you die.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Van Eijk says she found most of the weekly guide useful during pregnancy, but it was “such a shock” to see Start4Life include breastfeeding as a “weight loss hack”. .
“It was such outdated language, really entrenched in food culture that new moms, in particular, really don’t need,” she says. “I breastfed my first, but it was hard work and I pumped at first because I was so adamant to keep trying. Pumping and feeding became an obsession.
“Instead of letting go and opting for formula, I filled my fridge and freezer with milk. Basically equating the quantity I could produce with the quality of a mother I was. It wasn’t healthy and there are so many other signifiers of good parenting that we should show new moms. Not how you feed your baby and especially not what your body looks like.
Other women share her view, with many on Twitter pointing out that this “advice” only adds to the shame some women feel if they can’t breastfeed.
Start4Life was initially an initiative of Public Health England, which now falls under the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). Start4Life content is published on the NHS website, with NHS-branded leaflets also given to pregnant women.
HuffPost UK has contacted each of the bodies, as well as the Department of Health and Social Care, to address the criticisms and is awaiting a response.
But the women’s response is clear: New parents are already under enough pressure to be “perfect moms” and “get back in shape” after giving birth. The language used by a publicly funded initiative really matters.
Keeping a tiny human alive is a big achievement – no matter how big you are or how many packets of cookies you consume in the process.
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