My babies would have died without formula. I tortured myself with #breastisbest while me infant lost weight - feeling it was my fault. When I noticed my first smelled like ketones, I opened a can of formula. #fedisbest https://twitter.com/who/status/1265686621405536258

When you have access to clean water, formula can be a life saver.

I had ideal circumstances - health insurance, shelter, clean water, a safe environment - and I couldn’t do it. My baby blues were worsened by my sense of inadequacy. Was I just not woman enough to feed my child as instructed?

The ketones were a huge alarm bell that rang through my foggy mommy shame.

Carrying my baby, I wandered around the house, smelling nail polish remover but couldn’t find it. I was alone and nails were not a priority. Who opened nail polish remover?

Running out of options, beginning to think I was hallucinating, I smelled my baby’s breath. It was her - wasting away. I breast fed her nearly constantly - hours at a time - and it was never enough.

That was when I realized #breastisbest is a bullshit ideal that was hurting my baby and me. The pressure is unnecessary.