A mother has slammed a doctor after she was rudely told to stop breastfeeding her daughter after a year.
Imogen Horton, from Brighton, took to her Instagram to rant about the experience she had with a doctor during an appointment.
The full-time parenting content creator has two daughters, two-year-old Renaelia and seven-month-old Oriavella.
The influencer began the clip by saying that she was not trying to impose a breastfeeding agenda on anyone and that the most important thing is that children are fed.
Imogen Horton, from Brighton, ranted from inside her car about a date she had with a rude doctor.
She captioned the video and said she wished women weren’t judged for their decisions as mothers.
She said: ‘I went to the doctor to talk about my haemorrhoids. Yes, we love postpartum! And then she said to me, in a tone: “How long do you plan to feed this one?”
Imogen then explained that she had been breastfeeding non-stop for two and a half years because she didn’t have a gap between breastfeeding her eldest daughter and her youngest daughter.
Imogen added: “Then she said: “We recommend a year. It is not necessary to go beyond a year. “A year is a long time, a year and a half.” [is] too much.” Excuse me? At that moment I wish I had said as much.’
At the time, Imogen found the whole situation quite intimidating because she had just undressed in front of the doctor and was therefore feeling vulnerable.
But he thought about “a lot of things” he wanted to say after the heated interaction.
She said: ‘I don’t need a doctor to tell me or put it in my mouth when I should stop breastfeeding.
‘Yeah [my daughter] Tomorrow I would stop breastfeeding, yes it would make me sad, but it’s because she doesn’t want to.’
Imogen then added: “I’ve just been told that a year is too long and [she] He made grotesque faces at her. What are we doing to women? Where is the empowerment of women in general on any issue?
“I have never approached a woman who breastfeeds her baby. [and questioned]: “How long are you going to feed this one then?” Are you kidding? Leave the women alone. Can we empower each other?’
The mother of two said she was surprised by the interaction and revealed that this is not the first time people have judged her for breastfeeding after six months.
Imogen added that the doctor said “in tone” that breastfeeding for more than a year is “too much.”
Instagram users took to the comments to discuss their thoughts and many sympathized with Imogen.
She captioned the video: “We look to medical professionals for guidance so they don’t make us feel like what you’re doing is wrong when it’s far from it.”
“Maybe if women had more support and less judgment, motherhood would be a little easier to deal with.”
Instagram users took to the comments to discuss their thoughts and many sympathized with Imogen.
One wrote: ‘I hated that comment. Are you still breastfeeding? When will you stop? Erm, it’s not really any of your business, is it?
Another wrote: ‘My baby was 2 hours old and the midwife said: Oh that’s great! [sic] Still holding the baby, I was like, I’ve waited over a year to hold my baby after losing him before yeah, I’m still holding my baby.
A third said: ‘Doctors promoting personal opinions on breastfeeding are not like that!!! Does not follow WHO/NHS guidelines. Report her before she tells anyone it could hurt!!’
A fourth commented: ‘Diet is such an important topic when it comes to judging…’. Many people ask me if I breastfeed so it has something to do with them. People I wouldn’t classify as my friends or family.
‘I don’t understand why women are criticized no matter what. “There our children and how we choose to feed them should not be the concern.”