HEALTH BULLETIN .CO: As Facebook reinstates banned breastfeeding photograph FEMAIL asks: Is there one rule for celebrity mothers and another for normal women?

The case of Emma Bond has reignited the breast feeding in public debate

A picture of her breastfeeding her son was removed from Facebook

Many women experience negative reactions to breastfeeding in public

But response to most A-list photos showing the same thing often positive

Alyssa Milano, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Doutzen Kroes, Miranda Kerr and Natalia Vodianova, are all celebrities who have shared snaps

Earlier this week, actress Alyssa Milano posted a tender snap on her Instagram page of herself breastfeeding her one-month-old baby girl Elizabella.

The 41-year-old was the picture of maternal bliss in the black and white snap, joining the many other proud celebrity mothers who have chosen to share the intimate moment with friends and fans through social media.

The responses to this, like most A-list breastfeeding photographs, has been overwhelming positive. One follower wrote: 'Such a beautiful photo! Thank you for sharing this sweet moment with us, and thank you for helping to normalize breastfeeding!'

'Absolutely beautiful,' another chimed in while a third ventured to write: 'Oh and congratulations on the new baby! I assume you recently gave birth.'

Alyssa Milano was the picture of maternal bliss as she breastfed newborn daughter Elizabella in this photo shared via Twitter and Instagram on Monday

The issue of breastfeeding in public has been thrust back into the media spotlight after Emma Bond, 24, was upset after Facebook removed an image of her with baby Carene

Emma spoke on ITV's This Morning to discuss her story and the huge uproar both posting them and their removal by Facebook has caused

In real life situations however, mothers often find themselves experiencing a far more negative reaction than their famous counterparts.

A photograph of a mother breastfeeding her severely premature baby for the first time went viral earlier this week after it was removed from Facebook because it ‘breached nudity rules’.

Emma Bond, 24, posted the picture of herself with Carene, who was born 12 weeks early, on Sunday. It was visible only to those she had approved as online friends.

The mother of two was shocked when the site removed it the same day after an anonymous person – presumed to be one of her friends – reported it as offensive

Emma, like fellow mothers Alyssa Milano, Gwen Stefani, 45, and supermodels Doutzen Kroes, 29, Miranda Kerr, 31, and Natalia Vodianova, 32, had posted the picture to social media as a form of celebration.

Emma Bond talks about Facebook removing breastfeeding pic

Model Doutzen Kroes tweeted this picture of her nursing her son Phyllon Joy Gorré with the caption "Working mom;) feeding my precious baby between pictures..."

Former Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr tweeted this pic of herself breastfeeding son Flynn in 2011

This black and white shot of Natalia Vodianova breastfeeding has received over 50,000 likes on Instagram

Singer Gwen Stefani is one of many celebrities who have expressed their support of all women nursing their babies wherever they may be

Speaking on ITV's This Morning Emma said: 'I was upset that somebody on my Facebook would (complain) but I didn't think Facebook would remove it. I contacted them and said that if they removed it I would take it as far as I could. I didn’t think I would end up sitting here.

'I posted the image into a breastfeeding support group saying what had happened. And I think everyone decided to share it and support it and it went viral. Last time I checked 250,000 had 'liked' the photo.

'If a baby’s hungry, they are hungry. It’s time to move with the times, Everyone I know has Facebook and people post photos of babies in bed with them sleeping.

‘Because breasts are sexualised I think there’s a confusion and that’s where the controversy comes from, people find it hard to separate the two.'

So why the uprooar? And why do famous mothers seem to illicit such different reactions?

Professor Rosalind Bramwell, a health psychologist specialising in reproductive health at the University of Chester says on the noticeable difference in peoples reactions to celebrities breast feeding: 'We have some very complex views on celebrities in society.

'it might be that we see these stars as women who show their bodies anyway, whose bodies are somehow already public so it matters less when they show their breast.

'A lot of the uproar women experience comes down to how much of the breast can be seen. It seems to matter an awful lot how much you can see the nipple.

'It goes to show how we understand the female body; to show the breast is seen as a sexualised act rather than an act of nourishing an infant.'

Actress and model Jaime King breastfeeds her son James in this tender Instagram shot

Professor Louise Wallace of Coventry University told the MailOnline: 'There is wide range range in attitude to breast feeding in the UK. But in general it is not regarded as the norm.

'The norm seems to be to formula feed and there is lost of evidence of women experiencing stigma and negativity - either directly or indirectly - when they breastfeed in public.

'Even in front of other members of their own family inside their own home many mothers experience stigma over feeding.

'Studies suggest that 80 per cent of women give up breastfeeding before they want to and one of the strong reasons why that is that it is stigmatized and indeed sexualised.

'The breast is still viewed as a sexual organ in the this country rather than a means to give nutrition to infants.'

Professor Wallace admits that there seems to be a difference in how the public in general views celebrities breastfeeding and their reaction to encountering it in real life.

'These are highly visible and respected people in the public eye and people look up to them. The positive response they get to breastfeeding is well know.

'It has previously been harnessed for public health campaigns to try and encourage others to keep breastfeeding, and people continue to try and use the effect for good.'

WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS ARE DEEMED ACCEPTABLE TO POST ONLINE?

In April last year an American mother criticised Facebook for taking down pictures of women breastfeeding their children from a support page she created for other mothers. Kristy Kemp, of Sacramento, California, was also barred from the page for days after the images were shared, even though Facebook said it did not ban nursing pictures, MailOnline reported.

It follows a controversy on photo-sharing website Instagram in June which saw a mother’s account deactivated after she posted a pictured of her 19-month-old daughter showing off her belly button. The Daily Mail told how mother-of-four Courtney Adamo, 33, of north London, was sent an email by the Facebook-owned firm saying the image of Marlow ‘violated the community guidelines’.

And in March, mother Emily Slough, spoke of her outrage after a stranger took a picture of her breastfeeding her daughter in public and uploaded it to Facebook, branding her a 'tramp'. MailOnline reported how Mrs Slough, from Rugeley, Staffordshire, was photographed when she stopped to feed her eight-month-old, Matilda, on the steps of a restaurant and have some lunch.

Six years ago, the original decision by Facebook to ban mothers from posting 'inappropriate' photos of them breastfeeding their children caused protests by women's groups in the U.S.MailOnline reported how the campaign had picked up speed in 2008 when protesters organised a virtual 'nurse-in' on the site, as well as a demonstration outside Facebook's offices in California.

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Friday, October 31, 2014

As Facebook reinstates banned breastfeeding photograph FEMAIL asks: Is there one rule for celebrity mothers and another for normal women?

WHAT PHOTOGRAPHS ARE DEEMED ACCEPTABLE TO POST ONLINE?