Healthy Pregnancy
This Empowering Photo Shoot Aims To Normalize Breastfeeding In The Black Community
A fierce and unapologetically beautiful group of mothers gathered together to celebrate the natural act of breastfeeding. In the photo shoot, the nine moms pose topless as they feed their babies, wearing black dresses and gold accessories and crowns.
The Alabama moms originally got together after one of the moms, Angel Warren, posted a Facebook open call for breastfeeding moms willing to participate in a PSA photo shoot during Black Breastfeeding Week. After the first shoot, the women became friends and formed a support group, the Chocolate Milk Mommies of Birmingham. It’s their second shoot together that is featured here.
One of them, 26-year-old Charity Moore, shared with Yahoo Lifestyle the intention behind the photos. “We wanted to do something to capture the essence of how natural breastfeeding is,” she said. “We used crowns to remind each other that we are queens and to keep one another lifted. We chose to come together to normalize breastfeeding. And it’ll never be ‘normal,’ unless it’s seen.”
Another participating mom, Rauslyn Adams, 26, explained to Yahoo Lifestyle why the women selected a goddess theme.
“To breastfeed, it takes strength, patience, and poise,” says the first-time mom. “We utilized the photo as a tool to bring awareness that it’s OK to feed your baby the natural way.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black women still need more targeted support to encourage breastfeeding.
Adams says one of the mothers is still feeding her 2-year-old baby, and that a lot of people have shamed her for it. “This photo was for awareness, for all the women who don’t have support in breastfeeding. This photo is also for women of color, because breastfeeding is considered taboo in our community; hence the hashtag …
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