Olivia Munn is speaking out about the infant formula shortage.
The New Girl alum, who welcomed her first child with partner John Mulaney last year, took to Twitter on Wednesday to explain why telling mothers to breastfeed instead of relying on formula isn’t a solution to the crisis.
“It’s so crazy when people say ‘if you breastfeed you won’t have to worry about the formula shortage!’ I have low milk supply, so to keep my baby fed I depend on formula,” Munn wrote. “I wish I could breastfeed so I wouldn’t be panicking about the shortage right now. But I don’t have a choice.”
Munn’s followers shared their own thoughts on the subject. One replied, “People downplay how much work breastfeeding is. It’s an all-day job even when you’re pumping instead of direct feeding. Formula can supplement the supply while taking stress off of parents and help overcome a myriad of common feeding issues.”
Another shared, “Exactly. Or how about non traditional parents or foster parents or gay parents or adoptive parents or grandparents who are raising grand babies?! That’s such an insensitive and extremely unhelpful response. I feel for anyone like you in that situation.”
It’s so crazy when people say “if you breastfeed you won’t have to worry about the formula shortage!” I have low milk supply, so to keep my baby fed I depend on formula. I wish I could breastfeed so I wouldn’t be panicking about the shortage right now. But I don’t have a choice.
— o l i v i a (@oliviamunn) May 19, 2022
Munn isn’t the only celebrity speaking up. After Bette Midler tweeted that people concerned about the shortage should “just breastfeed,” The View’s Sara Haines responded with her own perspective.
“To say casually, ‘Women have done this for thousands of years,’ ‘That’s why you have breasts,’ ‘Just breastfeed’ — I find that dismissive, uninformed and insensitive to make it that casual, because that is not the case for most people,” she said on the daytime talk show’s May 13 episode.
The Violet star has previously shared her breastfeeding struggles with her social media followers. In January, she shared a photo on Instagram in which she explained the steps she has taken to breastfeed her child.
“Breastfeeding is soooo hard. Especially if you have low supply,” she wrote in the post. “8 weeks in and I’ve taken a million vitamins, countless teas, lozenges, tinctures and worked with two lactation consultants.”
In February, she shared in an Instagram video that as hard as she tried to have her body produce milk, “none of it worked.” In the face of her struggles, she encouraged parents to “do whatever you need to feed your baby and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it.”
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