Erica’s Story ~ Breastfeeding Photography, Spokane WA

Meet Erica, mama to Ava and John…

You wouldn’t think it by looking at these photos, but this mama had a rough start to her experience with nursing in public. She shares…

“My incident at the eye doctor was crazy! John was maybe 3 weeks. I was wearing him in the Ktan when we first got there. The doctor took me in the room and john was sleeping at first. We began the exam and John was waking so I asked if I could feed him. I didn’t say nurse or anything. For all he knew I meant use a bottle. He let out this big ‘absolutely not.’ He said all he needed was 5 minutes and muttered off some other rantings. So for about 2 minutes John cried while I rocked him. It was dark, the man wouldn’t have seen my boob. I was speechless due to being in shock. Aside from when my daughter was potty training that was the worst part of parenting for me. Letting my baby cry for those few minutes still leaves this awful feeling in my stomach. I’m upset for not being more pushy and just feeding my baby. I had never experienced someone be negative about “feeding” my baby. When I went to go pick up the prescription and glasses I left a card about the nursing laws. One positive thing about this awful experience was I posted on a local moms page and got really positive feed back. Moms were so kind and made me feel good and that I wasn’t crazy. He acted like a jerk. One specific comment a mom made was “when in doubt, whip it out”. I will never ask anyone if I can “feed” my baby again… Basically if my child is hungry I’m going to feed him. People don’t bat an eye at bottle feeding.”

Erica now confidently nurses her babe whenever and wherever she needs to.

“John nurses on the go all the time because of having an older sister and they adapt. :) ”

Over the course of this project, a few people have asked why there’s a need to capture breastfeeding in photography… I have a few thoughts on this myself which I will share soon, but a few of the mamas who shared in the project wanted to share their their thoughts as well. Erica says:

“I value having these photos because they’re beautiful and natural. Our kids are only so small for long and they only nurse for such a short period of time. It’s so nice to capture these.”

breastfeeding photography, public breastfeeding, nursing in public, supplementing breast milk, nursing photos, esther edith photographer and doula

Esther Edith is a mama-centric Photographer and Birth Doula, serving Spokane, WA, Coeur d’Alene, ID and the surrounding areas.
I specialize in maternity, birth, newborn lifestyle, breastfeeding, and babywearing photography. If you are interested in inviting me to capture your story in timeless images, please connect with me to envision together and reserve your session.

Spokane WA and Coeur d’Alene ID Maternity, Birth, Newborn, Babywearing, Breastfeeding, and Couple’s Photography

Eastern Washington and Coeur d’Alene Idaho, Professional Photography and Birth Doula Services

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