Having a baby is a beautiful moment in a woman's life and it should be cherished as such, this we know. But sometimes, when you're confronted with the responsibility of having to feed this hungry, crying, swaddled parcel of poop, your body says, nah uh. Not today, my nipples are handing in their p45 right now and no, they don't want a leaving party Carol.
Despite the perfect Instagram facade of mother and baby getting along swimmingly, not all mums have an easy time with breastfeeding their baby, as Mum and photographer Angela Burzo found out.
In pain and struggling with the demands of being a new mum, she took to Instagram to share the reality of her breastfeeding journey.
'I love seeing all these beautiful women in their beautiful nursing clothes smiling down at their babes as they lovingly look up back at them hand in hand while breastfeeding away,' Angela wrote on Instagram.
'That is not my reality. This is real & as much as I want to stay strong and be the soldier I feel I can be I cannot hide the struggle that is BREASTFEEDING.
'Whether she is not latching on properly, whether I am not producing enough milk to keep up with her demand, whether my nipples might not be adequate, whether we confused her with having to give her a bottle after pumping….whatever it may be it has been an emotional & painful struggle.
'Today has been full of no naps, sucking and not eating, crying and frustrated parents.‘This photo depicts my reality of this breastfeeding journey so far & that first latch & the pain I endure. Keeping it real.'
And a lot of women clearly resonated with Angela's experience since the post has received 7,000 likes and more than a thousand comments, praising her for her honesty.
Angela told Metro, "What motivated me to share my breastfeeding experience on Instagram was the fact that society portrays this experience as one that is natural and one that EVERYONE can do.
"Nobody ever tells you the truth or reality of what you actually have to go through to even ATTEMPT to experience such a bond between mother and child.
"You have these images in your head of what you see on TV & social media and when that doesn’t happen for you you sit there and ask yourself, but why? I had never came across an image that was real or raw or explained the reality of the struggles that actually happen."
There we have it, being a mum is not always picture perfect. And not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they wear breast pumps and pads instead.
Do you feel there's a pressure on mums to keep up the perfect image of breastfeeding? Tweet us @SofeminineUK!
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