Cardi B defends formula feeding and calls for an end to mom-shaming culture

17 October 2025

Cardi B for Bobbie.

Cardi B is stepping into a new advocacy role with her recent embrace of formula feeding, standing firmly against the stigma that often shadows it and shining a light on the pressures many mothers face when balancing childcare and income. She has partnered with infant formula company Bobbie as its Chief Confidence Officer, joining forces in what she calls “The B is for Bobbie” campaign with the aim of normalizing formula use and pushing for better rights and support for parents.

In a recent livestream on X Spaces, she spoke bluntly about how breastfeeding and pumping impose intense demands on women, in her words, “Pumping takes literally your whole day.” She acknowledged the reality that many mothers must return to work and cannot always sustain exclusive breastfeeding. “There’s women that gotta go to work. There’s women that… they just have to depend on the formula,” she said.

Cardi B’s own journey has informed her position. She has shared publicly that she struggled with milk production, sometimes spending two hours to produce just two ounces. That frustration led her to question whether her challenges made her less of a mother, a pressure she now works to unlearn, both personally and publicly. She has framed responsible feeding whatever the method as what truly matters for the baby’s nutrition and well-being.

Her advocacy also spotlights broader inequities. She praised Bobbie’s efforts to push for improved maternal care for Black and Brown women, highlighting the systemic gaps that deepen the strain on marginalized communities. As part of the campaign, she’s invited her audience to share their stories through a hotline linked to Bobbie for Change, promising to forward selected testimonies to lawmakers and offering paid leave to some participants as a gesture of real support.

This is the first time Cardi has partnered with a baby brand, and her announcement comes while she is expecting her fourth child, her first with her current partner, Stefon Diggs. She already has three children Kulture (7), Wave (4), and Blossom and the weight of maternal expectations and public judgment has followed her through her pregnancies and parenthood.

In interviews she’s emphasized that the choice between formula and breastfeeding should not carry shame. “You’re not a bad mom for giving your baby formula. You know what’s bad? Not feeding your kid,” she said. She argues that the narrative must shift: from judging the method of feeding to supporting parents in finding what works best amid their realities.

Critics may argue that public figures endorsing formula risk commercializing motherhood or belittling breastfeeding. But Cardi B seems to view the two as complementary choices, not opposing ones, and her approach positions advocacy over dogma. By reframing formula as a tool, not a failure, she intervenes in a cultural conversation long dominated by guilt and hierarchy.

Her campaign arrives at a fraught time. Maternal health risks, lack of paid parental leave, and societal pressure on mothers are ongoing challenges. Cardi’s public platform gives her a voice to connect individual choices with structural demands. She isn’t insisting every mother choose her path but wants the choices to exist without stigma.

If her campaign gains traction, it could help reshape how society views feeding decisions, less as markers of devotion or failure and more as options in a complicated landscape of care, work, health, and resource access. Whether or not everyone agrees with her tone or methods, Cardi B is pushing the boundary of how motherhood is discussed in public, insisting that no mom should carry judgment along with a baby bottle.