, mental obstacles, professional obstacles, or simply distaste for it. It doesn't matter: it's the mother's choice, and while we're at it, I'm proud of my friend for throwing one in the eye of those who think women who are dedicated to and passionate about work – and also about their babies, which my friend certainly is – must give the former all up to conform to a traditional ideal. It is certainly not the Government's business whether women breast feed or use formula. And yet the great British nanny state knows absolutely no bounds when it comes to controlling our most personal decisions – and stymying the market whereve){kind=link}
Formula milk has a role to play in motherhood: women should not be shamed for using it
An old friend of mine, with whom I reconnected at a wedding in roasting Athens last week, updated me on her life over the past few years.
A successful film director in Hollywood, she and her family recently left Los Angeles for Bristol. She and her husband had written – and were producing and directing – a series for a major streaming service.
This incredible opportunity – frankly unmissable, professionally – happened to coincide with my friend being four months pregnant. Her daughter, her second child, arrived just as production was about to start. She took two days maternity leave – yes, two days – and then went at it full throttle, taking the baby with her when she could, and relying on immense support from husband, nanny and mum.
She breastfed, but after a few months, it became clear that logistically she wasn’t going to be able to keep doing so – certainly not a day after the six months mark. She chose to introduce a bottle. She did it, quite unashamedly, for work.