Nursing mothers bared their breasts for a photo shoot in the river to tell their stories

Several mothers from Alabama, who had to go through difficulties to be able to breastfeed their children, undressed for a photo shoot in the river and told their stories. Photographer Cheyenne Booker, who specializes in photographing families and childbirth, created this project to encourage other women experiencing difficulties with feeding children.

All women participated in the shooting voluntarily. Although Cheyenne admitted that it was difficult to catch the perfect shot with the moment when all the children are sucking their breasts, but it was more difficult to get to the shooting location and organize everyone.

(6 photos in total)

Source: Facebook — Peachy Moments Photography

Shelby Butler: "Aven is my fourth child. But she's the first one I breastfeed directly." The woman said that first she had premature twins, and she had to express breast milk to feed them through tubes, and then from bottles. She tried to put them to her chest, but they preferred to eat from a bottle. So she fed them for ten months. Her third child was born with a jaw defect, because of which he could not breastfeed, and she had to express milk again. Daughter Aven was born healthy, and this time Shelby manages to breastfeed her naturally. She hopes that she will be able to feed her up to two years and even longer if the girl wants to.

Monique Natalie Johnson: "I've been breastfeeding for almost three years. I started to breastfeed my son from the moment he was born, and we both had to adapt, but as soon as we realized that it suited us, it turned out to be the easiest thing in the world." The woman fed her son throughout the second pregnancy, and after the birth of her daughter, she feeds them both at the same time. At first, she found it quite difficult. She was crying, angry and wanted to stop breastfeeding them, but then realized that she couldn't do that to her children, and decided to set boundaries for her son. The woman explained to him that you can breastfeed no more than twice a day and only when your mother allows it. This turned out to be the perfect solution, so Monique continues breastfeeding and is not going to stop while she can do it.

Samantha McMillan (left) and Phoenix Daze (right) are married. Samantha gave birth to her son in July 2014, but at first there were problems with feeding, and on the eighth day the child had to be taken to the hospital, as he was losing weight. Thanks to doctors, it was possible to establish breastfeeding without giving up breast milk. The baby refused to breastfeed because the woman had to go to work almost immediately after giving birth, and he got used to the bottle. He was again accustomed to the breast. Then Samantha had problems with feeding due to heart surgery, but they managed to overcome all this, and breastfeeding continues.

Her wife Phoenix had their second child, Shelter, in November 2015. He was born prematurely, by emergency Caesarean section. The mother had to express milk, and for her it was torture, since she is autistic, suffering from anxiety disorder, panic attacks and borderline personality disorder. Pumping took her from 45 to 90 minutes, she was tied to a breast pump for eight hours a day, and she had a dysphoric reflex of ejecting milk. During and after the process, Phoenix suffered from severe nausea, panic and depression. It got to the point that she had a panic attack only at the sight of a breast pump, and she even thought about cutting off her forearms. She had to stop and undergo treatment in order not to commit suicide. As a result, Samantha, with the help of medications and supplements, restored the volume of her own lactation to feed both children, but she could no longer use a breast pump. Now they are feeding their second child at the expense of breast milk donors.

Emily Bart Lowell: "I breastfed all three children. My eldest son Trevor (8 years old) had all the problems with breastfeeding that are possible: allergy to milk protein, reflux, colic, whatever. Because of this, I fed him only up to six months. I didn't have enough knowledge or support to learn about exclusionary diets. When Zoya's daughter was born, I was determined to breastfeed at all costs." The girl also had an allergy to milk protein, milk intolerance and problems with sucking. The mother excluded all dairy products from her diet, and the allergy with intolerance in the girl passed by seven months. She also discovered a special cookie to stimulate lactation. The girl is now two and a half years old, and she eats breast milk on a par with Cyrus, who is only nine weeks old.

Gwendoline Alicia Martin: "I suffered a lot trying to breastfeed my first two children. Both were born quite small, did not gain weight and did not breastfeed for a long time to get enough milk. By two months, both were on baby food due to not gaining weight. So when my third child, Cam, was born and I couldn't breastfeed him for the first day, I was very upset. From the day I found out I was pregnant, I planned to breastfeed for at least a year. When he finally managed to attach it to his chest, he began to suck well and ate in twenty minutes, and now he prefers breast milk, refusing a bottle or formula. He's gaining weight much faster than my first two kids at the same age." Gwendolyn has been breastfeeding for more than five months and is not going to stop.

"All these lovely ladies helped me in my little project. It is designed to encourage other mothers who are also nursing or planning to breastfeed. All the heroines told me their stories about personal problems with breastfeeding and about the desire to achieve this (even if they had to resort to donor milk).

This is not in order to somehow offend mothers who feed babies with formula, but in order to support all women who have chosen breastfeeding and sometimes may feel as if they are alone on their way. I had my own difficulties with feeding my daughter in the beginning, and many times I thought about giving up. By this point we have been doing this for 13 months. Most of the time (especially at the beginning) breastfeeding is not easy, but it brings such satisfaction!" the photographer wrote on her Facebook page.