Former Made in Chelsea star Louise Thompson has opened up about her postpartum life and the pressures she felt when it came to breastfeeding her son Leo.
Louise suffered a very traumatic labour when welcoming her son into the world in November 2021, which meant she had to stay in hospital for over a month to help her recovery. The 32-year-old developed PTSD and crippling anxiety after her son’s birth.
Now, Louise has shared an insight into pressure surrounding breastfeeding after her traumatic birth by sharing a collection of photos of her son with a long caption explaining her experience as a new mum.
She explained, “When Leo was born I didn’t have the luxury of breastfeeding. Well, that’s not entirely true… I did for a couple of days and it certainly brought us closer together, but sadly it wasn’t meant to be. My feeding experience was shaken up pretty early on due to the severe medical trauma I endured.
The former reality TV star went on to describe the first time she was encouraged to breastfeed at the hospital. “It was just a few days after my initial operation and I ended up in excruciating pain… not for the typical reasons that I had read about, but because the oxytocin must have caused contractions to a uterus that wasn’t quite right”.
“I wish i’d stood up for myself and used my voice more. I genuinely feel that the post partum period is the most challenging and vulnerable time in a woman’s life, making it VERY hard to advocate for yourself”.
“Even before I gave birth to my son Leo I remember witnessing the huge pressures faced by new mothers around me to breastfeed".
"I had no idea what fate lay ahead for me personally, but I actually knew quite a few women who couldn’t breastfeed for various different reasons… some of those friends suffered negative psychological impacts as a result of the societal pressures they received".
Louise continued, “It’s important to remember that some women don’t have a choice. Sometimes your body simply struggles to produce enough milk. That doesn’t make you a failure. It makes you a human”.
“And even if someone does have the choice, and they choose not to, it is their body, so it is their choice, please reserve your judgement for yourself. To be totally frank, the last thing on my mind when I woke up in intensive care was feeding”.
“There was no skin on skin when he came out, no eye contact, no cuddling, no singing, nothing. But we did the best we could”.
The mum-of-one went on to say her partner Ryan Libbey has supported her so much throughout her journey through motherhood so far.
Many other mums in the comments shared their support for Louise’s honest story about her breastfeeding journey and her openness about her struggles as she navigates postpartum life.
