NEW mum Olivia Bowen has opened up on breastfeeding newborn son Abel, and broke down in tears while discussing it.
In a candid post on social media, the 28-year-old star admitted that she didn’t think she was a “maternal” person, and admitted to having “serious doubts” when it came to breastfeeding.
Sharing a beautiful snap with her newborn son while breastfeeding, Olivia gazed at the camera while cradling the tot, and sported a glamorous makeup look.
However in a second photo she could be seen crying while lying in bed and breastfeeding the tot.
The Love Island star penned: “I never thought I would breastfeed. I think where I felt like I was not a maternal person whatsoever before Abel was born, I had serious doubts it would work for me & I also didn’t even feel comfortable with the thought of it!
“I would go as far as to say it freaked me out a bit. You all know I wasn’t sure on having kids & it’s mainly because I felt like I would be so rubbish as a Mum, not a maternal bone in my body pre Abel.”
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Olivia continued to say that since having her baby son it couldn’t have felt “more natural.”
The star, who shares her son with husband Alex Bowen, continued: “The bond & connection I feel with him when feeding I will be forever grateful for.
“Now 2 months on & still breastfeeding & watching him grow on something my body produced specifically for him is just incredibly rewarding. I never expected to breastfeed, I didn’t put pressure on myself to do so either, but I’m so glad we’ve been able to.
“It’s not always easy, those first few weeks the emotions are no joke. I had a couple of days where he wouldn’t latch properly & I felt like a complete failure, I felt like I was failing myself & failing him – even though I told myself before I wasn’t bothered about breastfeeding.
“The first week I was squeezing my engorged boobs over the bath, I woke up with wet sheets from leaking & I constantly worried about how much he was getting & was it good enough?!”
Olivia says her mind has changed from breastfeeding for a month, then to three months and now to six months, adding there’s “no feeling like it.”
She finished by saying: “There are hard days, but there are so many amazing days & they make the hard ones feel like a million miles away. I can’t even explain how amazing it feels to see my baby thriving from my body after growing him from that same body for 9 months.”
Olivia’s friends and fans praised the star for her honesty, with Love Island’s Shaughna Phillips writing: “In Nando’s crying my eyes out.”
Vicky Pattison added: “Honestly just in awe of you,” while Faye Winter coined the star as “amazing.”
Olivia and Alex welcomed their baby in June in an adorable post that saw the star call her son her “everything.”
