Ep. 2: Emma from @a_mothers_tale talks breastfeeding on social media

This week's guest is Emma from the hugely popular Instagram account @a_mothers_tale.  Emma lives in Scotland, is a mama of three boys, and is known for her real, honest, and often funny accounts of motherhood! Emma is currently breastfeeding her youngest son and would regularly share their journey on her social media accounts. Back in September, she got the shock of her life when a video of her breastfeeding her boy on TikTok was taken down for ‘indecent exposure’ and she was blocked from the platform. Understandably, Emma is not taking this lying down and is now petitioning for change. In this episode... In this episode we talk about the breastfeeding video debacle on TikTok and why people's breastfeeding images and videos are so often removed from social media platforms on the basis of being unacceptable or offensive content. What do social media giants need to do to better protect and support people who choose to breastfeed? Emma talks about the power of community and how her followers are backing her to push for change and to normalise breastfeeding on social media and in public. We also chat about Emma's recent bout of Mastitis which left her hospitalised and separated from her baby son due to Covid restrictions.  We look at why this shouldn't be happening and why again, change needs to occur. Emma reflects on how amazing her Instagram community are and how they've gotten her through these tough times and encouraged her 'not to quit on a bad day'.

Emma's key talking points

Feeding all three of her boys and how this third journey is her hardest yet Coping with recurring mastitis and the trauma of being admitted to hospital and separated from her baby The power of a social media community to inspire and empower people to breastfeed Uncovering the lack of continuity around the treatment of breastfeeding images and videos on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms The need for appropriate social media guidelines to support and protect breastfeeding people.

Find out more

You can follow Emma's Instagram account here: @a_mothers_tale and you can sign her petition to Normalise Breastfeeding here.

Om Podcasten

Hello and welcome to the boobingit podcast where we lift the lid on breastfeeding and tell you what it’s really like! Your host is Ruth, boobingit.com founder and mama of two. She'll be chatting to people about their breastfeeding journey in the hopes their stories will help and inspire you. From time-to-time, she'll also have a special guest on to talk about an important breastfeeding topic. We're always on the look-out for new guests and topics to explore so if you have any suggestions please get in touch! We'd love to hear from you.