Model Elsie Hewitt detailed her decision not to breastfeed her daughter, Scottie Rose Hewitt Davidson, in a recently published essay for Elle magazine, sparking a wider conversation about maternal choice and the pressures surrounding infant feeding.
Hewitt, 29, and her partner, Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson, 32, welcomed Scottie Rose on December 12, 2025, according to multiple reports. The couple confirmed the birth on Instagram, with Davidson calling his daughter a “perfect angel girl.”
In her essay, titled “My Decision Not to Breastfeed,” Hewitt revealed that her pregnancy was both unexpected and physically challenging. She disclosed a years-long battle with chronic pain that was ultimately diagnosed as stage 4 endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, often causing significant pain and other complications. Hewitt underwent laparoscopic excision surgery shortly before becoming pregnant.
“I had been looking forward to a stretch of my life where my body felt like mine again—where I wasn’t constantly managing pain or advocating to be believed,” Hewitt wrote. “Pregnancy, in all honesty, completely derailed that. And I really struggled.” She described the pregnancy as deeply uncomfortable, marked by constant sickness, exhaustion, and pain.
Hewitt explained that breastfeeding was often presented as the “gold standard” for infant feeding, with formula feeding positioned as a secondary option. She recalled being aware of the “quiet shame attached to formula feeding” and the inherent guilt associated with choosing not to breastfeed, even though formula is a safe and nutritionally complete alternative.
“When it came time to decide how I would feed my baby, I weighed my mental health, my recovery, and the kind of mother I want to be,” she wrote, expressing her desire for both she and Davidson to share in the responsibility of feeding their daughter. “Once she arrived, I didn’t want to remain her sole lifeline in a way that would further deplete me, hinder my recovery, and exit little room for feeding to be shared between my partner and me.”
Following Scottie Rose’s birth, Hewitt developed mastitis, an inflammation of breast tissue, almost immediately. Despite attempts to express milk, she was unable to produce any, leading to a prescription for antibiotics. “I spent hours trying to express even a drop [of milk], and nothing would approach,” she wrote.
Hewitt described experiencing “conflicting feelings” as her body produced milk despite her decision not to breastfeed, noting that she felt as though she was “grieving an experience that I chose not to have.”
Hewitt stated she was fortunate that neither she nor Davidson faced pressure to breastfeed. “The most crucial thing to me was doing what is best for my baby. I will always do what is best for her,” she wrote. She emphasized the need for more nuance and less judgment in discussions about infant feeding choices.
“A nourished baby and a mentally healthy mother can and should coexist. If choosing not to breastfeed can allow a mother to receive support through a season where the physical and emotional burden already falls disproportionately onto her, she has every right to make that choice without second-guessing it,” Hewitt concluded. “You do not have to sacrifice your well-being to prove your love.”
