Meet Rachel and her two lovely sons who came along to create breastfeeding photos in an absolutely beautiful setting in Pontypool. Seriously look at the stone bridge, it’s stunning!
In case you aren’t aware I want to quickly explain my 'Mother Nurture’ project. This is a photography series created to celebrating breastfeeding Mothers and give them the space to share their stories. Not only are we creating beautiful breastfeeding photos but we are supporting Mothers who chose to breastfeed their children. The project is ongoing and free to take part in, there’s more info about getting involved down below.
Now without further ado here are Rachels breastfeeding photos!
Here is what Rachel wanted to share about her breastfeeding journey,
“I read a saying somewhere that said, "breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have ever loved doing" and that couldn't be more true.
With my first baby, Liam, I gave up breastfeeding after 5 days, due to post-birth complications, first time mum worries, along with not really knowing what I was doing – and I’ve always regretted it.
So when I fell pregnant with our second baby, Joshua, I was adamant that I wanted to give breastfeeding the best go I could and learnt as much as I could before he arrived. We were very lucky, this time round, in that our breastfeeding journey was relatively straightforward. He latched straight away, I didn’t really experience much pain, and I’ve not had any problems with my supply. But I think the research I did beforehand helped prepare me for what to come – to understand the potential problems and what to expect as part of our breastfeeding journey, plus also giving me the confidence to trust in my instincts as his mum.
I still wouldn’t say that breastfeeding is ‘easy’ though! We’ve spent days and nights cluster feeding, days when Joshua has needed to be close to me and be in my arms to settle, the lonely night feeds, and the sleep regressions!
Despite all this, every single second of that has been worth it for me. When mid-feed, he reaches his hand up to touch my face, or smiles at me whilst he’s latched on, and stares up at my face. I feel so much love at those moments, my heart could burst. Breastfeeding for me has been like a drug, it makes me so happy that I’ve not only grown my son, but provided the nourishment he needs to grow, and I wanted some photographs taken to mark this special time in our lives.
When I saw Sarah’s Mother Nurture project, I knew I wanted to be involved. Straight away, Sarah made me feel at ease, and has taken the most beautiful photographs of my boys. I’m proud that I’ve breastfed my son, and that at 15 months we are still going strong. I will always have these photos to look back on and remember this special time that we shared, and I can never thank her enough for that.
My advice for any mums starting their breastfeeding journey, is to learn as much as possible beforehand! Don’t suffer in silence, and ask for help if you are finding things difficult. There are so many breastfeeding groups you can access now to ask for help. That, and always make sure you have a drink and snacks at hand when you start a feed – you won’t know if you’re going to be there for 10 minutes to an hour and a half!!”
Please head to this page to see more of the wonderful women and their breastfeeding photos.
If you would like to talk about creating your own breastfeeding photos then please get in touch.
To see all of the behind the scenes and to keep up with all the latest, come find me on Instagram.