The thing is women talk about breastfeeding like it's the ultimate act of being a mother. She says she didn't feel maternal enough to breastfeed, well I've got news for her. Breastfeeding doesn't mean diddly squat about being maternal. Maternal means lying next to your child in hospital when they're sick, it means cuddling them in the middle of the night when they've had a bad dream, it means taking every fibre of your being not to lose your temper when they just won't behave, it means arguments with your husband/partner on different ideas of parenting, it means unconditional love. She has absolutely no clue what maternal is.