The Breastfeeding in public project

 

As I was expecting my first baby, full of emotions and dreams, one thing that there was no question about in my mind was that I wanted to breast feed him.

When the day came, the nursing didn’t come as naturally as I had imagined it would, It hurt. After what seemed like a bad dream, a very kind nursing specialist told me that nursing shouldn’t hurt, I must be doing something not right. Well, after having over 10 midwifes telling me all the wrong things, including saying : “you have no milk”, “that baby is hungry”, “he needs to eat formula or else you can’t leave the hospital”. She seemed heaven sent. Day 4/5 my milk came in and I nursed my baby boy for 21 months. I had lots of struggles on the way, but I kept on it. Thanks to my husband who supported me and a great group of nursing specialists. My son was the one that one day told me: ” no mas lechita mama, no mas” ( I don’t want anymore milky milky mummy ). And that was the end of an era. A bitter sweet moment. I may write another time about all the struggles and problems I faced, including things that were out of the norm.

Breastfeeding. How something so natural can become something so controversial is beyond me.

Now, as I mentioned before when I first started my journey of breastfeeding with my first son, I had never imagined that it was going to be hard. I saw so many of my friends who never had a problem feeding their babies came naturally and easily and they never seemed to encounter an issue. Well, good for them! right?! Not every woman has the same story. It could be a painful road, or with bumps on the way. But no matter what each woman faces on their journey, one thing that they don’t need it’s to be shamed, put down or scolded, for doing something that is natural.

If your baby is hungry, you should be able to feed them anywhere you are. Not hiding in a corner, a smelly toilet, or by the nappy bin. Who would like to have a lunch break there? Not me!

And that’s what this project is about.

This is an issue I have been pondering for a while. I have to admit that I have sat in yucky smelly places feeding my first born. With my baby girl I refuse to sit in any bathrooms or smelly places. I’ve started to take baby steps. I still look for hidden places sometimes, fitting rooms, in the car,  etc.

But what a hassle. My baby feeds every 2 hours. I don’t like making her wait if she gets upset. I finally purchased a nursing cover, so I could feed her if I was in a restaurant or the park..etc…without having to leave my family so I could find a ” private, hidden place”. It’s not that great when you have a very curious, playful baby! She doesn’t appreciate being covered that much, especially when is super hot! ugh, sometimes I wish that I could just be free and feed her without feeling embarrassed or that every eye is on me!

The one time I did nurse her in a park (still in a hidden place) a pervert saw me and started to do sexual innuendoes with his mouth and hands. I felt shocked, and super upset. Why? why something that is being design to feed babies, can be seen in such a way?

In the world of nursing mum’s, there are so many stories. When I started with the idea of this project, I started to get many testimonies of mums who had also been treated badly because of feeding their baby! Outrageous.

Since then, I have read blogs, looked at videos that were going around facebook about this issue and slowly I stepped out more…

Now, I want to go public. I want to gather all the courageous mothers who want to make a stand, to make a difference in the world we are living in. To bring back nursing as something beautiful and natural. The way it was intended to be. To stand for our babies, who don’t deserve to have meals and snacks in smelly toilets or by stinky nappy bins.

My excitement grew as many mothers began to contact me letting me know that they wanted to be part of it. I want to take beautiful photos of mothers feeding their children where ever they are at the moment, at a mall, a park, a restaurant, you name it! Day to day life,  no shame.

If you would like to be part of this project too you are more than welcome!

Contact me via my facebook page for available dates.

I was going to share the first photos I took for this project in this post, but my husband sugested to start with one of me, I then realised I don’t have that many! -mental note: get some!- This one was just a very sponteneous shot of Lainey having a snack by the river after we took some photos of me and her the day  she turned 9 months old.