IRENE Montero has shared an intimate snap of herself breastfeeding her children to mark World Breastfeeding Week on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Minister of Equality from the Podemos party, shared two photos, one of her feeding her twins (now three years old) and another of her feeding youngest daughter Aitana (now two). She covered their faces with purple love heart emojis.
Captioning her snaps, Montero shared her own breastfeeding journey, recalling the difficulties she faced in breastfeeding the twins, Leo and Manuel, who were born prematurely at 25 weeks.
“I spent those first months pumping my milk every three hours, conserving it, measuring the quantities, donating what I could to the hospital milk bank. I met other mothers every day doing the same process….When we came home I had a hard time keeping up with twin breastfeeding. I went through a few weeks of mixed breastfeeding until we switched to the bottle,” she explained.
But she said it was a different story with her daughter who arrived when the twins were a year old. She said that she is still breastfeeding the two-year-old and has faced criticism for doing it ‘for such a long time’.
World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) occurs during the first week of August and represents a global celebration of breastfeeding efforts including promotion, support, education, research, progressive trends and normalising breastfeeding.
Marking the awareness week, the MP who has the three children with her partner, former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias, shared an empowering message for other parents.
She penned: “It’s breastfeeding week and I am feeling so grateful. I received quite a lot of criticism for breastfeeding for such a long time in some people’s opinion. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to us.
“It also never once made me question my decision or make me feel insecure. I just hope that it may give someone the courage to continue breastfeeding despite external pressures.’
She continued: “My advice is whatever your decision is as a mum it’s your decision. You know what’s right for your baby and yourself.”
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