Tamara Ecclestone answers her critics after posting breastfeeding on beach pics

When Tamara Ecclestone posted the stunning holiday snaps of her and her daughter Sophia on Instagram last week, she obviously had no idea of the furore that would then ensure.

Tamara appeared on yesterday's Lorraine show on ITV and talked about the storm in a (B? C?) tea-cup the 'breflie' snap of her and 15-month-old Sophia caused, after some critics said such images put pressure on mums to breastfeed.

"It was such a natural moment, I didn’t realise the photo was being taken," Tamara told Lorraine. "I hadn’t even brushed my hair. We’d literally just woken up and gone straight to the beach. To me it wasn't really thought about, it wasn't calculated, it wasn't planned."

"It was just like a spontaneous moment and I think sometimes those are the nicest pictures. And to be honest I just think, why should I not post a picture?”

Heiress Tamara, 30, – who has been married to husband Jay Rutland since June, 2013 – said she shares 'so many' pictures of Sophia, and thinks nothing of regularly updating her Instagram page.

"I’m completely obsessed with my daughter - sorry everyone all I do is post pictures of her - and my husband took the picture and I loved it,” she said, "I thought it was so cute and I didn’t realise that it was going to cause so much controversy, I didn’t realise that people would have so many opinions on it, I just thought it was a beautiful photograph of the person that I love so much and on holiday and it was a special moment and that was really the only reason to share that picture."

"If someone is bottle feeding their baby and enjoying it and in the moment and post a picture of their baby while they’re being fed a bottle nobody would have anything to say about that."

Exactly!

So what was the controversy? Well, it would seem some people think breast-feeding is only OK if you are hiding away out of view, so, GASP, no one EVER knows that your breasts produce milk to provide nourishment for your growing baby. Like this commenter on Tamara's Instagram post: 'It is beautiful but in the privacy of your own home cover up with a blanket nobody knows the values of having morals'. (Yes, because of course we ALL cover up with blankets when on the BEACH).

And then there was this: 'No I don't want to see your boob in public neither does my husband we all know it's a beautiful thing and your child has to eat blah blah blah pump before you go out or cover up'. Hmmm. Think the subtext here is more 'I don't want my husband sneaking a peek' than anything else, don't you?

Then there was this gem:

'Nothing in this world is private everyone wants to expose themselves and their baby I don't get it really'.

Sigh.

While of course not everyone chooses to breastfeed, or indeed can, it seems very sad that such a lovely family pic should have been pounced upon in this way. Fortunately, some did see it for what it was - a gorgeous mummy-and-baby-shot - and praised Tamara for putting her daughter's needs first by feeding her in public, and also by still nursing beyond her first birthday:

'This is beautiful. I can't believe some of the awful narrow minded comments on here! You're encouraging women to breastfeed not only in public but past their baby's first birthday!! Well done you!' wrote one fan.

We wholeheartedly agree!

Picture: Tamara Ecclestone/Instagram

Read More:

• Tamara's blinged up breastfeeding shots

• Brelfies - what do you think of breast-feeding selfies?

• Tamara's amazing just-given-birth pics