Dear celebrity mums. Thank you for admitting to the truth about breastfeeding.

At least according to these high-power women.

We’ve all seen celebrities like Miranda Kerr sharing their blissful breastfeeding photos on Facebook. Mother and baby looking serene as they do what is so beautiful and natural and simple.

Except when it isn’t.

Because sometimes breastfeeding is painful and awkward and messy. Thankfully, there are some celebs who are happy to talk about the realities.

Acting legend Meryl Streep has said that when she was called up to accept a Golden Globe for Kramer Vs Kramer, her boobs were leaking through her white dress. It was 1979, she’d just given birth to her first baby, Henry, and she went to the ceremony wearing her wedding dress.

“It was a perfectly nice white silk dress,” she told The Graham Norton Show, “but the luncheon went on and I was breastfeeding and two o’clock came, three o’clock came, and boom! I started to lactate. In a white silk dress.”

“It was not good and I sat with my arms crossed over my chest. They called my name and I walked to the stage with my arms crossed and accepted the award one-handed, while still covering my breasts. They must have thought I was so odd. It was so embarrassing.”

Meanwhile, Zoe Saldana skipped this year's Golden Globes, even though her movie The Book Of Life was nominated, to stay home with her six-week-old twins Cy and Bowie. It sounds like things have been a little rough for the first-time mum, and she's not hiding it.

A few days ago she tweeted,

"So ladies - moms... Breastfeeding moms. What do you have to say about pumping??!!! #babies #Breastfeeding #breasts hurting!!"

She was flooded with encouraging messages from fans. Some suggested solutions like nipple cream and gel pads, others just offered a shoulder.

"Emotions and physical pain & I often felt alone - I know you're famous but if need support I'm here!" one said.

Actress Amanda Peet has also opened up about the terrible pain she's gone through when breastfeeding. The mum of three, including four-week-old Henry, has shared a picture of herself with cold cabbage leaves shoved in her bra.

"This is my husband being very amused by my porno boobs even though I'm in excruciating pain," she joked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Amanda says she's used cold cabbage leaves on her engorged boobs with every baby. "It doesn't really work, really. It makes for a really great picture!"

Here's hoping this is a trend: celebs being honest about the downsides of breastfeeding as well as the upsides.

So, how did you find breastfeeding? Serene and idyllic? Or were you wondering when you could finally wean them on to a bottle?

CLICK THROUGH to see all the celebrities who have shared breastfeeding pics.

Want more? Try:

The 17 things more offensive than public breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding specialist tells mum to stop breastfeeding.