In an effort to help reduce the stigma surrounding breastfeeding, one photographer decided to take on a photo series depicting the life of breastfeeding mothers.
Dublin based photographer and mum Johanna King is a member of Cuidiu Dublin North West, a parenting and breastfeeding support group.
But when she joined and began her project, Johanna did not expect to stumble across two mums with the most remarkable story to share.
While undertaking the project, Johanna snapped close to 10 families in their everyday life, but one couple, Cliona and Sue, stood out the most.
Cliona and Sue are a married lesbian couple who both tandem nurse and breastfeed their toddler daughter and infant triplets, a boy and two girls.
Cliona’s pregnancy and breastfeeding journey began when she carried their toddler Aoife into the world, while Sue’s began when she delivered their now six-month-old triplets.
The mums’ story was extraordinary as the project showed how they breastfed their four children at the same time, a rare occurrence in many households.
And what made their story more unique was the fact that both women endured difficulties at the start of their journey.
Tongue tie and latch issue were problems they had to overcome, nonetheless with the help of a lactation consultant and plenty of determination, both mums were able to experience the beautiful moments captured by Johanna.
Johanna shared: "Sue gave birth to triplets at 31 weeks and the early days in NICU were really difficult as she had to pump around the clock for the triplets who couldn’t latch on yet."
"Once Sue had established breastfeeding, Cliona started to help out with feeds. Sue was still doing most of the feeds, which means constant rotations with three babies, but Cliona helped out when she could," added the photographer.
The desire for the series was to portray the reality of the family’s life in that moment, as Johanna hoped families could look back on the photographs years later and remember how it felt.
And we think she perfectly depicted the beauty of breastfeeding with these stunning images.
Aren’t these mums just remarkable?
Do you have any unique breastfeeding stories to share with us?
