However you feed your baby - we support you.

Feeding dramas? We feel you. Welcome to the most embarrassing story of my life.

I was loving breastfeeding my first baby. After a shaky, painful start, she was a stellar feeder, greedy and thriving.

And then I went back to work. My girl was six months old, home with her dad and had begun to refuse bottles, no matter what was inside them. So it was a stressful time.

Every lunch time I went and locked myself in a quiet meeting room. I’d settle down with a pile of proofs, attach the electric breast-pump and milk away, desperately trying to fill a teeny bottle that I could take home for my girl to fiddle with and refuse. I’d stash it in the office fridge, next to the labelled yoghurts and browning half-avocados, slightly embarrassed by the whole experience.

One day, I was milking away, already feeling bad about being away from both my daughter and my desk, when another sound interrupted the psh-psh-psh of the pump. A key in the door.

I was wearing a dress, so I’d stepped out of it. I was sitting there in knickers, tights and heels, and I had a plastic milking machine dangling from one floppy boob as I leapt up in horror at exactly the same time as someone walked into the room.

There was a scream (me), there were lots of loud “Sorrys!” (them), and breastmilk and underwear flew across the room as I tried to cover myself.

The most mortifying moment of my life was over in just a few seconds, as the person – whose face I never saw, but knew I must walk past in the halls EVERY DAY – retreated in horror as I scrambled for my modesty.

That afternoon, I called HR. I asked for a safe space to pump. They told me they had never been asked that question before (strange, in a building full of women), but they gave me the key to sick bay. Importantly, the only key.

Not long after that, my girl got happier with bottles, and relaxed enough to try things other than my breast milk.

Soon she was taking her morning and night feeds from me, and her day feeds from a bottle of formula. We kept that up until beyond her first birthday.

The point? This week is World Breastfeeding Week. At iVillage we entirely support breastfeeding, wherever, whenever, however. But we also support not breastfeeding.

Whatever lengths you’re going to to give your baby what they need, we support you.

We’re just generally in favour of the feeding of babies. And with that in mind, we’d like to share with you this amazing gallery of  mums sending their support to each other for their feeding choices.

It’s the brainchild of the Huffington Post , along with bloggers  Kim Simon, Suzanne Barston and Jamie Grumet. They launched the #isupportyou campaign last year. And if you’d like to join in, just upload a photo with your message, with the tag #isupportyou.

Did you struggle with breastfeeding, bottle-feeding or both?

CLICK THROUGH to see the inspiring pics….

Like this? Try:

I hated breastfeeding, and that’s okay.

How I breastfed for a year, without breastfeeding at all.