There are plenty of benefits of breastfeeding, but more parents are getting real about just how hard the process can be. To no one’s surprise, new mom Keke Palmer isn’t afraid to go there.
The Nope star welcomed four-month-old Leodis “Leo” Andrellton in February. Since then, she’s been on the rollercoaster that is motherhood—and for her, breastfeeding has been “a doozy,” she recently told People.
“Although breastfeeding is ‘natural,’ it’s not instinctual,” Palmer said. “I really went through the journey of just trying to figure out how to do that and how to support my baby—how to deal with the pressure of trying to do that right.”
Breastfeeding requires practice, patience, and often lots of guidance, as the American Pregnancy Association (APA) notes. Many parents seek the help of a lactation consultant, a trained professional who provides technical and emotional support for parents who are figuring out how to best feed their babies. But, as Palmer pointed out, these experts aren’t always accessible or easy to find.
“You don’t even really know what to search,” Palmer said, “and how to really prepare yourself for something like that. So shout out to all the lactation consultants because mine really, really made the difference for me.”
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She continued: “I wish that everybody had access to lactation consultants. It sucks that it’s kind of like a luxury. They have people saying, ‘Breast is best, breast is best.’ But not everyone can even get support. That’s a mess.”
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Palmer also recounted the guilt she felt when starting out. “It ends up making you feel like shit…it’s like tying your shoe,” she explained. “Tying your shoes is easy, but you had to learn how to tie your shoes. So it becomes easier. In the beginning, your fingers were like butter fingers—and that’s the same thing with breastfeeding. It isn’t that easy. And if it is for you, wonderful. But I think more often than not, it’s difficult.”
Despite these struggles, Palmer has felt a positive shift since becoming a mom. “I think before I even had the baby, I was really actually quite self-conscious,” she recently told The Cut. “After having my baby, I’ve gotten so much more powerful. We’re going to lean into this new body, and I think that is the whole aura of what’s happening with me in this ‘Big Boss Era’: As I come into my 30s, and I have my baby boy, and I’m just continuing to spread my wings as a young woman.”
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