World Breastfeeding Week is particularly meaningful for Australian actress Teresa Palmer. The 35-year-old Warm Bodies star opened up about her complicated relationship with breastfeeding her three children just weeks before welcoming her fourth.
"Today is day 2728 of breastfeeding straight. I have nursed since Feb 17th 2014 when my first son was born," she shared on Instagram, captioning a series of photos nursing her three children. "I nursed him in to toddlerhood through the pregnancy of my 2nd son, embarked on a tandem nursing journey for a year. I then continued nursing my 2nd son through the pregnancy of my daughter, in to my second tandem nursing journey. I’m now still nursing my daughter through this pregnancy and will jump in to my third tandem nursing experience in a matter of weeks."
Palmer -- who shares 7-year-old Bodhi, 4-year-old Forest, and 2-year-old Poet with husband Mark Webber -- admitted to not always loving breastfeeding.
"Some days it’s a lot, I’m utterly exhausted and just want my body back, other days I sit in a place of deep gratitude as I cherish and honour this experience with my babes," she wrote.
Palmer also noted that she's well aware that many mothers are unable to breastfeed or have a more difficult time with it.
"Women should be celebrated for however they feed their babies, free from judgement," she continued.
The actress said she's faced lots of public scrutiny for her decision to nurse, sometimes in public.
"Since I began my breastfeeding journey I’ve had media outlets write their opinions on how I’ve breastfed in public or nursed into toddlerhood or tandem fed," she wrote. "2 years ago I copped verbal abuse inches from my face by a man and woman as I nursed my 6 week old daughter on a bench. If that had happened in those first wobbly weeks of being a new mum, trying to establish a latch with my son and finding my feet with parenting, that experience would have profoundly impacted me."
She concluded her World Breastfeeding Week post by encouraging other mothers to seek out breastfeeding resources like the La Leche League International and to feel free to try nursing "without a fear of people judging them."
Palmer is almost 38 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, a baby girl, and hoping to have a home delivery. On Sunday she shared a video of herself packing a hospital bag in the event her home birth "doesn't pan out.
For more celebrity breastfeeding stories, watch the clip below:
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