Fearing judgement from other mothers while bottle feeding her baby contributed to Erin1's isolation.
Transcript
Interviewer: Were you breastfeeding?
No. No. I had decided not to breastfeed before I had my son, because I was on an antidepressant. And I was uncomfortable with that being in breast milk. And really, like, I knew – my niece and nephew were formula fed. Like, it was – I – I felt more comfortable actually fee – and that was another thing that I faced, though, in – in trying to take my son out and go to mommy groups and stuff, it was very much a barrier, because I felt like I experienced a lot of judgment. And I actually had one woman say to me, “Oh, this is terrible. I would never feed my child that stuff.” And you know – to say that to a mom who, you know, is suicidal and is, you know, went through the trauma of having a premature baby, and still sort of have a couple little health issues with her baby – I mean, just like who the hell is she?
So that was another thing that – I think added to my isolation. I felt like I couldn’t go to the Early Years Centre or I couldn’t, you know, because my baby – I was formula feeding my baby, and my baby had delays. He had gross motor delays. So he was behind other kids with things. And you know, I didn’t want people asking questions or pointing it out. So that was another thing that added to my isolation, I think.
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