Feed Free
Feed Free is a collaborative project working with the charity La Leche League Collective. Together, we aim to help support anyone who wants to breastfeed by sharing images and personal stories and experiences from breastfeeding mothers.
We have received funding to exhibit at the Scottish Parliament, giving us a chance to share the work with MSPs to increase government funding for the charity and pitch a public health campaign using the images and stories.
Breastfeeding my first child did not come easy to me. I had a forceful letdown that my tiny newborn son would gag and splutter on, leaving us both in a milky mess. As a new mum, I wondered what I was doing so wrong; images of breastfeeding always looked so serene and easy and how on earth I was meant to do this discreetly in public. It was daunting, but I was lucky to have a good support network around me and determination.
This is just one story; behind all the breastfeeding images I have collected over the years, there are countless stories and diverse experiences. Mothers can feel alone and unsupported when things don’t work the way they planned, and by sharing a diverse range of images and experiences, we can help break down those feelings of failure. When we see ourselves in these images and relate to the experiences shared, we feel supported within a whole community of breastfeeding mothers who are navigating this journey, and not one journey is the same.
Representation is the key behind this work, and this ongoing project aims to share a diverse range of breastfeeding mothers and stories to help mums feel more confident and supported in their feeding journey and feeding in public.