First there was Too Posh To Push – the elite set of Mums, led by the likes of Liz Hurley and Victoria Beckham, who opted to give birth to their babies by elective c-section, not for medical reasons but simply because, well, they were supposedly too posh to push. Now it looks like we’re about to witness the emergence of a whole new category of celebrity-inspired parenting: Too Famous To Feed.

Celeb mum Denise Van Outen is the poster girl for this new movement. She gave up breastfeeding after three weeks according to an interview published in the current edition of SHE magazine. DvO, who gave birth to daughter Betsy in May, reportedly said: ”I probably should have persevered a bit longer than three weeks. But I’ve had paparazzi sat outside every day since I had her and I can’t be sitting in Starbucks and breastfeeding, because they’re taking pictures.”

Er, that would be the same Denise Van Outen who seemed to spend most of the ’90’s posing scantily-clad for lads magazines? Oh look, and who repeated the experience just recently with Melanie Sykes, to publicise her role as host of The Five O’Clock Show on Channel 4. And the very same woman who thought nothing of working out with a personal trainer in a very public park in front of the paparazzi just weeks before she gave birth. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be papped discreetly nursing a newborn than stripped to my undies or panting my way round a park in jogging pants.

Now let’s get one thing straight. We’re not having a go at Denise for giving up breastfeeding. According to SHE she also hinted at other factors which influenced her decision to switch to bottle-feeding, saying she wasn’t producing enough milk and that her husband, Lee, wanted to be able to feed their daughter too. The last thing a new Mum needs is to be criticised or judged for her decisions – coping with a newborn is a monumental challenge on its own, without anyone sticking their oar in and telling you you’re doing it wrong. Far be it from us to bitch about breastfeeing vs bottle-feeding. As long as you feed your baby, you’re doing your job as far as we’re concerned.

What irks us about this storm (in a bra cup) is the idea that being seen breastfeeding is something to be embarrassed about. Um, hello? Has no-one told Denise about Haute Mama’s range of nursing covers and ponchos? We’re feeling feisty over the fact that breastfeeding has been getting a bad press of late. It’s neither creepy nor impractical and while women who really ought to know better keep implying that it is, scores of new mums are probably being put off breastfeeding altogether. And that’s no better than bullying or guilt-tripping them into it. We’d like to see some balance in the breastfeeding debate, and we’d love to hear celeb mums extolling its virtues and talking about it like it’s a normal part of motherhood.

Denise is also quoted as saying: “Another time, I was at the back of a really long queue at the Post Office to get Betsy a passport, knowing that in the next half-hour she was going to wake up and cry, wanting a feed.” Most new mums have been there, and it must be seriously horror-inducing when you’ve got the added factor of strangers scrutinising your every reaction just because you’re a celeb, but maybe there’s also something to be said for the days of the babymoon, when new mums prioritised languishing at home, getting to know their new bundles instead of dashing off to Starbucks or the Post Office. We’re not saying mums should be housebound – I was out having coffee within 24 hours of having my second baby and felt all the more human for being able to do so – but I sometimes wonder if we’re just way too keen to resume normal life, and too reluctant to slow down long enough to treasure our new life with a newborn. After all, Starbucks will probably always be there. Our babies won’t.

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