I’m working on a post about the growing use of the term “exclusive breastfeeding” / EBF as a source of anxiety, guilt, or shame for new mothers – and as a (sometimes) subtle form of peer pressure from other women. Please share your thoughts in the comments! If you want to share more, or anonymously, let me know and I’ll figure out a way for us to connect. Thanks!!
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I Talk About Boobs And Other Things 
This was absolutely a source of anxiety for me. Before my son was born, I read an article about how just one bottle will negatively impact your baby’s gut (here it is: http://www.health-e-learning.com/articles/JustOneBottle.pdf). So after my son was born, I was very resistant to giving him a bottle even though he was clearly very hungry (and my milk hadn’t come in yet) because if I wasn’t *exclusively* breastfeeding him, I would harm his gut and obviously be a total failure as a mother.
In real life, many of my friends supplemented (most breastfed as well, but I was say 80% also used formula), which helped. It was mostly from the internet that I felt the anxiety/guilt/shame.
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