She’s a body confidence advocate who regularly posts inspiring snaps.
And Melissa Suffield looked amazing on Wednesday as she proudly showed off her post-partum figure in an animal print bikini empowering snaps shared to her Instagram.
However, the ex-EastEnders star, 28, was forced to address a cruel troll who remarked her body looked ‘horrible’ in the stunning new images.
Stunning: Melissa Suffield looked amazing on Wednesday as she proudly showed off her post-partum figure in an animal print bikini empowering snaps shared to her Instagram
The mum-of-one oozed confidence as she posed with her hands on her hips while displaying her fabulous curves in the mustard and black two-piece.
In one snap she stared sultrily at the camera, while in the second, she looked off to the side while smiling.
Captioning her post, she penned: ‘Hey, you. You’re a warrior queen. Start acting like one.’
Despite her inspirational and encouraging post, Melissa still received backlash over her photos and defiantly took to her Instagram stories to address the issue.
Empowerment: However, the ex-EastEnders star, 28, was forced to address a cruel troll who remarked her body looked ‘horrible’ in the stunning new images
Sharing a screenshot of the comment which read ‘your body is horrible hun’, Melissa responded: ‘Lol. Now what about the content I put out makes this person think I give a s**t what they think?’
She also wrote over the image: ‘I’m sharing this with you so you can all see what happens when confident women own it. There will be people who want to tear them down, and sadly, often it will be other women. But don’t let it deter you.’
The former soap star continued: ‘You can’t control criticism and trolls, but you can control how you react to it, and find a way that is healthy and productive for you.
You go girl! Captioning her post, she penned: ‘Hey, you. You’re a warrior queen. Start acting like one’
Having her say: Despite her inspirational and encouraging post, Melissa still received backlash over her photos and defiantly took to her Instagram stories to address the issue
‘Some people will want to ignore, some people will want to confront the troll, some people will have a different method. But this is about you, not the p***k’.
She then went on to share the ways in which she deals with criticism.
It comes after Melissa stripped naked to share a throwback black and white snap of herself feeding son River, 16, months on Tuesday to mark World Breastfeeding Week.
In an empowering post, the actress gave her followers encouraging comments about breastfeeding as she reminded them that everyone is different and ‘no journey is easy.’
Mum and baby: It comes after Melissa stripped naked to share a throwback black and white snap of herself feeding son River, 16, months on Tuesday to mark World Breastfeeding Week
The image sees first-time mum Melissa looking tenderly at her baby boy as she feeds him in a picture taken when he was just 5 weeks old.
Captioning her post, she penned: ‘It’s World Breastfeeding Week, so here’s some friendly reminders. Pumping is breastfeeding too. Is breastmilk brilliant? Yes. Is it great to be able to feed it to your child? Of course. Is it the be all and end all? Absolutely not.
‘Length of time breastfeeding is not an indication of how good a parent you are. I pumped for a year. I’m not a better mum than someone who pumped for a month. And someone who’s still feeding at 3 years old isn’t a better mum than me. We’re just all D I F F E R E N T. See also, exclusively breastfed/combi-fed.’
Encouraging: In an empowering post, the actress gave her followers encouraging comments about breastfeeding as she reminded them that everyone is different and ‘no journey is easy’
Highlighting the different experiences parents go through, she continued: ‘Even with all the support and education in the world, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
‘Sometimes people just don’t want to. Sometimes a massive great whopping pandemic comes along. We have to stop assuming that a lack of education and support is ‘to blame’. Not always. And it’s patronising to say.
‘Just because something is natural, does not mean it will necessarily come naturally. Breastmilk really is amazing. But so are you, and whether or not breastmilk is a part of your parenting journey, it doesn’t change that.’
Melissa, who played Lucy Beale in the BBC soap, then shared more inspiring words before sharing her own breastfeeding journey with her fans.
Having her say: Melissa shared an encouraging message with her fans as she discussed her own breastfeeding journey and noted that no journey is the same
She continued: ‘No journey is easy, every feeding method comes with its challenges, and it shouldn’t be divisive. That’s me feeding a bottle of breastmilk to River, at about 5 weeks old. We were already EP by that point.
‘I pumped until the day of his first birthday, and as he turns 17 months in a couple of weeks, he’ll have his last pouch of breastmilk from the freezer. I certainly didn’t see that coming, but it was right for us. It would be totally wrong for someone else. And that’s cool.
‘Just like, feed your kid, init. What did your feeding journey look like?’
Her post garnered several positive comments from her followers with many remarking on the beautiful pictures, while others praised her for highlighting that breastfeeding differs for everyone.
Lovely: Myleene Klass took to her Instagram stories to share a collage of her breastfeeding son Apollo, where she added the hashtag #normalisebreastfeeding
Melissa isn’t the only star to have shared candid images and posts to highlight World Breastfeeding Week.
Myleene Klass took to her Instagram stories to share a collage of her breastfeeding son Apollo, where she added the hashtag #normalisebreastfeeding.
The radio host also remarked that she has kept some breastmilk for her son, writing: ‘I still have it frozen in the fridge. Can’t bear to throw it out!’
Meanwhile, Ashley James shared a video and several snaps of herself breastfeeding her baby boy Alfie at various stages.
The former Made in Chelsea star also shared a lengthy caption in which she shared her own breastfeeding journey of which she noted she was ‘proud’ of and discussed the difficulties she faced including the oversexualisation of her breasts.
Candid: Meanwhile, Ashley James shared a video and several snaps of herself breastfeeding her baby boy Alfie at various stages
She penned: ‘My Breastfeeding journey. As it’s world breastfeeding week, I thought I’d share pics of my journey as it’s fair to say I’ve come a long way from being unable to get Alf to latch to feeding on national TV.
Needless to say, I support parents however they choose to feed their children. I feel often the narrative and messaging around breastfeeding is diluted because of this.
‘I’m SO proud of my journey – and going through these photos from Alf’s birth to now has really made me realise what an all consuming journey it has been. And still is.
‘I always knew I wanted to breastfeed, but I never quite knew all the health benefits for both baby and mum.’
She continued: ‘That said, I still spent the first week absolutely s******g it because I couldn’t get Alf to latch. He was losing weight and the pressure was really on – I made countless calls to @imogenibclc, watched 1000 videos on latching, and even had Tommy’s mum helping to massage my sore and engorged boobs in my desperation to make it work.
Journey: The former Made in Chelsea star also shared a lengthy caption in which she shared her own breastfeeding journey of which she noted she was ‘proud’ of and discussed the difficulties she faced including the oversexualisation of her breasts
‘As someone whose always had big boobs and hated the oversexualisation and unwanted judgement and attention having big boobs brings with it – I was terrified of feeding in public. But the moment I started to feed, I felt myself falling in love with my body all over again.
‘ I felt like I was reclaiming my boobs from the patriarchy. I realised that those who have an issue with someone Breastfeeding is very much a them problem, and not a me problem. Those who call us ‘attention seekers’ are the ones giving us very much unwanted attention. It’s wonderful, but also totally ordinary and mundane.’
Speaking further about her issues and how she faced them, she went on: ‘It’s also f**king hard. Having mastitis and doctors refusing to see me face to face, the lack of care and support and dare I say even Knowledge about what medication is and isn’t breastfeeding friendly (massive thanks to @feedeatspeak for your help on this)/’
Ashley concluded: ”But it’s magic. The fact that our boobs are able to create mix the perfect amount of nourishment and antibodies based on our baby’s saliva blows my mind.’
‘I hope that Breastfeeding is normalised in society and that it starts to get more support so women never have to stop because of lack of support or fear of judgement.’
World BreastFeeding Week began on Sunday 1st August and concludes on Saturday 7th August.
Her journey: ‘My Breastfeeding journey. As it’s world breastfeeding week, I thought I’d share pics of my journey as it’s fair to say I’ve come a long way from being unable to get Alf to latch to feeding on national TV’