Emma Walker: Study says breastfed babies get better GCSEs but not everyone agrees

Here's a crazy idea! Let's do another study on the dangerous obsession with infant feeding and let's reveal the findings to pile even more pressure onto working people who already find life hard enough.

The latest mum-shaming figures claim children breastfed for at least a year were 38 per cent more likely to get a high pass - the equivalent of an A or A* - in their English GCSE exam, compared to children who were not breastfed.

These children were 39 per cent more likely to get the same top grade in their Maths GCSE, apparently.

But who am I to comment? Us formula-fed and feeding mothers need to know our place.

Both of my children were breastfed for a couple of months but then reality hit and I had to get back to work. I found it too hard to juggle. But why do we even feel the need to justify how we choose to parent our own children?

I'll be honest, from the moment I left the labour ward in my bewildered and dazed state with a screaming baby and an emergency c-section under my belt, I knew I didn't enjoy it, it was a real struggle but I powered on. Looking back, I wish I hadn't put so much pressure on myself.

Mothers can feel intense pressure to breastfeed but we've all got different lives. Some can afford to take a year off on maternity, most of us can't and others don't want to.

Some mums can't breastfeed due to health reasons, some just don't like it and that's just to mention a small fraction of the multitude of reasons, why for some, it just doesn't or won't happen.

I think in our world of mum-shaming hypocrites, everyone needs to realise that all of the above is perfectly okay.

Should or could I have tried harder to breastfeed my children for longer? Have I ruined their future prospects? Should I, in the daze of early motherhood, have forced myself to power on with a situation that was ruining my mental state and quality of life?

Of course not. My gut tells me that we will be just fine. I'm proud to say my bottle-fed brain managed to muster some top quality GCSE grades and my daughter is one of the brightest in her class.

These studies, which only focus on a very small portion of society, are flawed. Breast isn't best for everyone, there's so much more that contributes to a child's welfare and how happy and healthy they are.

Us mums just need to know that we are doing our very best and that's good enough for the little people who rely on us.