Jodie Turner-Smith Got Candid About The Realities Of Breastfeeding
BuzzFeed
3 min read
Jodie Turner-Smith is opening up about her breastfeeding experience as a first-time mother.
Michael Kovac / Getty Images for Audi
The Queen & Slim star — and one-half of the most wholesome celeb couple that is her and Joshua Jackson — took to Instagram earlier today to share some facts about what breastfeeding is actually like.
David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images
"When I was pregnant, I told myself I would try to nurse for 6 months," she shared alongside an illustration depicting "What a breastfeeding mom's boobs mean."
The "non-enthusiastic" guide put together by artist Anna Denise Floor and reposted by @justmummies illustrates different breast sizes and shapes, including images for when an infant is teething or sleeping through the night.
"Now the 2-year mark is swiftly approaching and my boobs are deflated and reaching southward but I wouldn't trade a minute of this journey for anything in the world!!!" Jodie wrote, reflecting on mothering Janie. "Cheers to all the mummas on their breastfeeding journey & especially Black mamas — I see you!!!"
The 35-year-old has previously given candid details about her experience as a new mother, saying that the pandemic made it "difficult" to navigate "without support." She added (and rightfully so), "Patriarchal society really is out here, scamming women into thinking that they’re not supremely powerful beings. Because damn, it’s some goddess-level shit."
For context, Jodie also filmed a whole ass movie (an action flick, no less!) while in the second trimester of her pregnancy. Later on, she reflected on the discrimination pregnant people face in the workplace, detailing that the experience "taught me to advocate even harder for myself."
Her pregnancy journey was also marked by some complications, including constant nausea and fatigue, as well as subchorionic bleeds — an accumulation of blood between the uterine lining and outer fetal membrane that increases the risk of miscarriage.
And, in August 2020, Jodie opened up about her home birth in a personal essay for British Vogue. She and Joshua opted out of a hospital because of the ongoing pandemic, as well as the fact that Black women are disproportionately more at-risk of death during childbirth. "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of pregnancy-related deaths is more than three times greater for Black women than for white women, pointing, it seems to me, to systemic racism," she wrote.
The actor also shared how Joshua supported her through the four days of labor: "Both of us had watched our own mothers struggle to raise children without such support. Both of us were determined to create something different for ourselves. He kept saying to me, 'There’s no part of this that I’m going to miss.' And there wasn’t."
No, it's fine, just let me cry about having a parasocial relationship with this couple in peace!