AS we’re sure all mums will agree, the days after giving birth are an absolute emotional whirlwind as you get to know your baby and also figure out how on earth you’re going to take care of them.
Which is exactly why we can’t blame any new mums for taking full advantage of their phones whenever they can to make them feel connected to the outside world.
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That said, a British hospital is being accused of “emotional manipulation” after putting up a sign urging mums not to look at their phones while breastfeeding.
Posted on the wall of the maternity unit at Yeovil District Hospital, the sign reads: “Mummy & Daddy…. Please look at ME when I am feeding.
“I am much more interesting than your phone. Thank you xxxxxxx.”
Sharing a photo of the sign on Twitter, a new parent who was visiting the ward wrote: “I’m on the [Special Care Baby Unit] with my 5 day old. This poster makes me sad.”
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The sign has sparked fierce debate on Twitter – where mums argued that phones are a “lifeline” in the early days of parenthood.
One replied: “This poster is awful and needs to be removed. This shames new mothers and leaves them vulnerable to developing [post-natal depression].
“I’m quite angry that the department felt like this was an appropriate thing to put on the wall.”
Another argued: “Newborns are feed CONSTANTLY, it’s okay to read a book/watch TV/look at your phone. In fact, it will probably preserve your sanity and prolong your relationship – and you will STILL have time to gaze lovingly at your baby.”
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A third raged: “Phones are a lifeline to well wishes, normality and so much more when you have a newborn/are in hospital.”
But not everyone was so criticial of the message – with others arguing that it was encoruaging parents to “be in the moment”.
“I didn’t read it as ‘bad parenting’,” one user responsed. “More as ‘enjoy/be in the moment’ of feeding your newborn.”
In more parenting news, this mum-of-11 admitted she’s only able to control her kids thanks to a military-style routine that takes hours of preparation.
And this mum was in hysterics after her twin sons threatened to call an ambulance after seeing her “bleed out of her booty”.
Plus Sue Radford has admitted she’s finding her 22nd pregnancy “stressful” due to an anterior placenta – and her bump is her smallest ever.
