Mom and photographer Christine Santos hopes to change at least one person's perception of breastfeeding through her exhibit "Nursing is Natural...Naturally Beautiful", which will be presented at an art gallery in Florida in late September.
"I want to get it to the point, whether they see moms nursing with a bottle or they see mom nursing their child, the mental reaction is the same... Oh it's a mom feeding their kid," she told WFLA.
Though breastfeeding is widely accepted as the healthiest option for baby, we've heard time and time (and time and time and time) again about moms who have been shamed for nursing in public. Santos, a mother of 3, has a story of her own.
When her youngest, Mika, now 2, was just an infant, Santos breastfed her at her older daughter's spelling bee. Later, the assistant principal called her and said that he would have asked her to leave if he had seen it himself.
Now, Santos hopes to reverse that stigma through photography. She shot a series of 53 different mothers breastfeeding in a natural setting, and then launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a future exhibit. The photographer was able to raise over $5,000.
According to a press release, money raised from the exhibit will be used to further breastfeeding education efforts. "Promoting breastfeeding as something truly beautiful and natural. If I can change even one person’s mind about breastfeeding to seeing it as something that’s beautiful and natural, I’ve won. That’s how all the moms who participated see it,” Santos said.
Click through the gallery below to see the images that will be displayed at "Nursing is Natural...Naturally Beautiful".
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