Aldi has been praised for “normalising breastfeeding” by featuring a nursing mum in its latest advert.
The ad shows new parents Liz and Drew, with their son Eli, discussing what newborn products they couldn’t live without.
The casual depiction of breastfeeding, in which it’s just something Liz and Eli do – rather than something with a big song and dance made about it – has been hailed as “refreshing” by parents and breastfeeding advocates.
“Well done Aldi for helping to ‘normalise’ the thing that should be the most normal thing in the world,” wrote one.
“We need to see it as a part of everyday life to normalise breastfeeding. Good on you, Aldi,” wrote another.
Many others took to Twitter to praise the supermarket.
The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the age of six months, and complementary breastfeeding afterwards until at least two years old. However, rates in the UK are very low, with only 1% of babies being exclusively breastfed at six months – something Unicef has suggested costs the NHS up to £50 million per year.
Many women who struggle to breastfeed say they are made to feel guilty –Unicef suggests that the government and policy makers need to ensure mothers who want to breastfeed have more support.
Casual depictions like this – chatting, sitting on a wall with little Eli feeding – could work to lessen the stigma surrounding breastfeeding in public, which has led to incidents like Claridge’s insisting a breastfeeding mother cover up, and a more recent row on a KLM flight, after the airline told a breastfeeding mother she was “offending” passengers.
Well done, Aldi, and congratulations on your TV debut, Eli!