How the Breastfeeding Versus Formula Feeding Debate has Fueled a Generation of Guilty Mothers
Breastfeeding versus formula feeding. The two feeding options for mothers are often met with vitriol online by many who say breastfeeding is the only option. This pressure has left mothers feeling guilt over their decision to formula feed. Although, this was not always the case. The so called “milk-wars” began much earlier and is still pervasive today.
Throughout history mothers have mostly breastfed, although early historical evidence indicates that other options were available to affluent mothers, such as wet nurses. Feeding vessels made from various materials such as wood, ceramic or horns have been discovered, dating back from 2000 BC[1] suggesting feeding alternatives are not necessarily new.
However, the rapid rise of industrialization around the late 19th century drastically changed the way mothers feed their babies and child-rearing in general. With mechanized systems of operating, doctors began advising mothers to place their babies on strict feeding schedules as opposed to feeding on demand. This shift in feeding created a problem for mothers who began experiencing issues in their milk supply.
This is where the intense cultural shift happens.
With mothers unable to breastfeed due to poor milk supply and demands of industrialized society, doctors began prescribing formula which was done by modifying cow’s milk. Advances in sterilization practices also led to safer bottles or feeding instruments for infants. The development of infant formula continued into the 20th century where the general mainstream sentiment became dismissive of breastfeeding all together. By the 1950’s mothers were pushed to used formula and abandon breastfeeding as an option. It was seen as primitive or old-fashioned. Some breastfeeding women were shunned or leered at in disgust by members of the public for choosing to breastfeed their infant.
It wasn’t until another cultural shift in the 1970’s that would begin a new era for breastfeeding. Rebecca Corey notes, “The Women’s Health Movement began pushing against post-World War II norms such as heavily medicated births, and advocating for more bodily autonomy and control over health decisions[2].”
By the 1990’s and 2000’s, public health campaigns collided with public sentiment around breastfeeding and formula feeding. Public health campaigns endorsed breastfeeding as the best option while counter campaigns under the phrase “Fed is best” advocated for simply feeding your child however you were capable of doing so.
Associate Director of Undergraduate programs at the University of Pennsylvania’s History and Sociology of Science Department says, “We are still in a society that is clearly wrestling with how we’re going to treat and value women[3].”
The popular rise in mom blogs and social media in the early 2000’s helped the “Fed is Best” movement, but now the pendulum has swung the other way. Tradwife content continues to feature “traditional mothers” caring for their children and supposedly “doing-it-all” while making it look effortless. Including breastfeeding. What seems like a subtle video of a perfectly dressed, and manicured mother breastfeeding her baby becomes, in a way, a type of pedestal motherhood glorifying what can be a complicated and psychologically challenging task.
The School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research at the University of Kent studied mother’s feelings about switching to formula rather than continuing to breastfeed. 405 out of the total 503 interviewees had fed their baby formula by the time they were interviewed. 32% of mother felt a sense of failure about not breastfeeding, however 88% were relieved that the baby was being fed[4].
Mother’s described their feelings of guilt like so:
“You know, just that you’re such a failure because all you’ve got to do for this baby is feed it and if you just can’t do that, or you’re having problems with that you must be rubbish, you know, so you’re beating yourself up about it and I really believe that…if anything’s going to give you depression it’s that, because you can’t get any help.[5]“
“There were nights where you know I’d be here feeding him, my husband would be sleeping because obviously he had to go to work the next day and I’d just cry because I was trying so hard to breastfeed him. And it’s like feeling the guilt of giving him, having in the end to resort to bottles because he wouldn’t drink from me.[6] “
Mother’s want to do what’s best for their children, sometimes to the detriment to their care, but there must be a balance. The pressure to breastfeed rather than formula feed can be harmful to mothers, especially new mothers. While public health campaigns aim to bring new policy change to mothers such as universal paid maternity leave and reduced stigma surrounds breastfeeding, the feeding choice of mother’s is no one else’s business. We should champion maternal health policies like those mentioned above and support mothers who both breastfeed and formula feed.
Mothers have enough to worry about. Don’t be another voice that brings them down.
[1] Stevens, E. E., Patrick, T. E., & Pickler, R. (2009). A history of infant feeding. Journal of Perinatal Education, 18(2), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.1624/105812409×426314
[2] Corey, R. (2022, August 22). A history of breastfeeding and formula shaming: How did we get here?. Yahoo! https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/history-breastfeeding-formula-shaming-161727806.html
[3] Corey, R. (2022, August 22). A history of breastfeeding and formula shaming: How did we get here?. Yahoo! https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/history-breastfeeding-formula-shaming-161727806.html
[4] Lee, E., & Furedi, F. (2025, June). Mothers’ experience of, and attitudes to, using infant formula in … https://kar.kent.ac.uk/25249/1/Infant_Formula-Full%5Bfinal%5D.pdf
[5] Lee, E., & Furedi, F. (2025, June). Mothers’ experience of, and attitudes to, using infant formula in … https://kar.kent.ac.uk/25249/1/Infant_Formula-Full%5Bfinal%5D.pdf
[6] Lee, E., & Furedi, F. (2025, June). Mothers’ experience of, and attitudes to, using infant formula in … https://kar.kent.ac.uk/25249/1/Infant_Formula-Full%5Bfinal%5D.pdf
