Raw. Powerful. Bold. Brave.
These are just some of the words that came to mind, when I saw this image of a naked mother, breastfeeding her baby, just weeks after giving birth.
This unforgettable, like stop-what-you-are-doing-and-look-at-this-now-because-it-will-change-you photograph was captured by the immensely talented Alberta, Canada-based photographer, Vannessa Brown.
She writes on her blog about photographing the amazing mom of four, “I still can’t decide what I loved more about this session: her beauty, her courage, her bravery or the abundance of milk pouring out of her other breast as she fed her almost 3 week old daughter.”
For her part, the mom, Raegan, said, “When I first got the idea to do this shoot I was thinking about mothers everywhere. I was thinking back to when I had my first child and how much everything had changed. I was not confident about my body and mentally I felt so drained.”
But by the time she got to her fourth child, she says, “I realized that my body is so amazing, it had carried four babies, it had been cut open four times and it has nursed four babies. I want to show my children when they get older that I am proud of my body because each time I got a stretch mark it was because I was growing a big and healthy baby.”
Raegan adds, “I want to inspire women everywhere to love their child bearing bodies because each child is a miracle and the fact that our bodies can change so much to carry and nourish a child is nothing short of amazing.”
Um, mission accomplished. Thank you.
Here are more stunning images captured by Vannessa of Raegan, her newborn baby, and her other children.
While every photo made me re-fall in love with this courageous mama, motherhood in general, babies, birthing, and those precious early weeks with a newborn, bonding and nourishing that tiny life, this image in particular, spoke to me.
I mean, have you ever seen a more powerful representation of all that a mother can do? Why wouldn’t we be proud to be mothers? Why wouldn’t we embrace everything that pregnancy and motherhood has done to our bodies? Why wouldn’t we see it all as beautiful?
I can’t imagine a single reason.
Learn more about Vannessa Brown’s powerful photography on her website and Facebook page.
What is the most beautiful thing about the pregnant or postpartum body?
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