The Well-Rounded Mama: Plus-Size Breastfeeding Gallery

Showing posts with label Plus-Size Breastfeeding Gallery. Show all posts

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Plus-Sized Nursing Pictures in Honor of World Breastfeeding Week

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, here are a few more breastfeeding pictures of big moms that I've been sent in the last year or so. I've also included some I've had in my files for a while and haven't used here.

Readers, don't forget that I collect breastfeeding pictures of women of size. This collection is important because almost no breastfeeding resources routinely include pictures of breastfeeding women of size.

We need to remind the world that many "obese" women can and do breastfeed just fine.

Sadly, there are far too many care providers who believe that fat women can't or won't or shouldn't breastfeed. We need to show them that there are fat women who do breastfeed quite successfully.

If you'd like to share your picture, you can email it to me, kmom AT plus-size-pregnancy DOT org. Don't forget to give me formal permission to use your picture and say how you want it attributed.

I welcome shots from all women, but would especially welcome breastfeeding shots of high-BMI women of color (who are even more under-represented in breastfeeding resources).

In the meantime, enjoy these nursing photos of various well-rounded women!

The two pictures above are from a mom who is "morbidly obese," yet had a wonderful natural vaginal birth in a birthing center, something you might think would never happen if you listened to some care providers.

Some care providers also think that women of that size should not be allowed to birth in a birthing center, or are too "high-risk" to have access to low-tech alternatives. Yet many women of size have found that going low-tech was the key to their best chance at a vaginal birth, not to mention a more gentle and supportive birth experience.

Nursing also went well and is still going nearly 2 years later, a nice anti-dote for the commonly-held belief among some providers that larger women rarely breastfeed for very long (when they breastfeed at all).

I especially love the first shot. Beautiful!

The baby in the above pictures was born somewhat premature (but was a VBAC!).

Although preemies face many challenges in establishing breastfeeding (and no mom of a preemie should beat herself up if breastfeeding doesn't work out), this does show that preemies can often learn to breastfeed with time and patience. It's not easy, but it's extremely beneficial to a preemie's health so it's definitely worth pursuing if circumstances permit.

Don't you just love the second shot? What an adorable little face!

Here are a few other nursing shots from my files. Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Ample Women in Artwork: Breastfeeding, Part 3

Lebasque 1905

Earlier, we lamented how difficult it is to find breastfeeding images of women of size.

We posted a gallery of photos submitted by readers to show that fat women can and do breastfeed, contrary to some media messages and resulting misperceptions.

We also posted 2 sets of images (Part One and Part Two) from classical and modern art showing plus-sized women breastfeeding.

This is Part Three of the same series, with more art images of "obese" and "overweight" women breastfeeding their children (or in some cases, being wet nurses to other people's children).

Remember, it's impossible to determine someone's BMI from a photo so all we can do is make our best guess. Most of these women seem to me to be at least in the "overweight" category, and some in the "obese" category. Look for more rounded chins, wider bodies, a bit more around the middle or the hips, heavier arms. In my judgment, they all qualify as different degrees of "ample" ─ and they are all beautiful.

The point is that women of size can and do breastfeed, and have done so throughout history, as evidenced by breastfeeding artwork. Are breastfeeding rates in obese women too low now? Yes, and we need to work to raise them. But providers and breastfeeding advocates need to be careful that their messages about this do not become transformed in the public's mind to "fat women can't or don't breastfeed." The truth is that many of us do, as have many women of size in the past.

Elizabeth Norse

Rubens 1614

old American postcard

Lilla Cabot Perry 1906

Maurice Asselin

Gentileschi

Eugene Carriere 1897

Armand Rassenfosse

Kate Hansen

Melcher

Francisco Zuñiga

Mary Cassatt

Zanaida Serebryakova, 1912

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Ample Women in Artwork: Breastfeeding, Part 2

Melcher

We have been lamenting how difficult it is to find breastfeeding images of women of size.

We posted a gallery of photos submitted by readers to show that fat women can and do breastfeed, contrary to some media messages and resulting misperceptions.

We also posted Part One of a gallery of images from classical and modern art showing plus-sized women breastfeeding.

This is Part Two of the same series, with more art images of "obese" and "overweight" women breastfeeding their children (or in some cases, as wet nurses to other people's children).

As before, some people may protest that these women are not really plus-sized. However, it's impossible to determine someone's BMI from a photo so all we can do is make our best guess. Most of these women seem to me to be at least in the "overweight" category, and some in the "obese" category. Look for more rounded chins, wider bodies, a bit more around the middle or the hips, heavier arms. In my judgment, they all qualify as different degrees of "ample" ─ and they are all beautiful.

The point is that women of size can and do breastfeed, and have done so throughout history, as evidenced by breastfeeding artwork. Are breastfeeding rates in obese women too low now? Yes, and we need to work to increase those rates. But providers and advocates need to be careful that their messages about this do not become transformed in the public's mind to "fat women can't or don't breastfeed." The truth is that many of us do, as have many women of size in the past.

Fat women can and do breastfeed their babies. Here are some beautiful images showing just that. Enjoy!

Gari Melcher, 1895

Pieter de Grebber

Francisco Zuñiga

Jakob Smits

Henri Lebasque, 1920

Jose Camaron

Henri Moore, 1924

Lovis Corinth, 1909

Frida Kahlo

Rudolf Jordan

unknown

Beaubrun, circa 1640

Rubens

Sigrid Herr

Mary Cassatt

Ernst Neuschel, 1931

unknown

Siemiginowski, 1684

unknown

Mary Cassatt

Adam Elseheimer

unknown

Renoir

You can find various images of breastfeeding in art or pictures online at the following sources:

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Ample Women in Artwork: Breastfeeding, Part 1

Renoir

Recently, we did a post sharing breastfeeding pictures of contemporary women of size.

We did it because most of the breastfeeding images published in the media today are of thin white women. This is one of my personal pet peeves.

We need more diversity in breastfeeding images in so many ways, but particularly in more images of women of size, more women of color, and women who are both.

We also posted images of breastfeeding in fat women to counteract the common misperception that "obese" women can't or won't breastfeed.

Yes, research does indicate lower breastfeeding rates in obese women, but the reasons for that are complex, and rarely take into account the influence of PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), hypothyroidism, or anemia. It certainly doesn't mean that breastfeeding is rare or impossible in this group, just lower than in other groups.

Unfortunately, the media message around this has become distorted enough so that some folks have mentally transformed it into fat women "can't" or "won't" or "shouldn't" breastfeed, even though research shows that breastfeeding support in this group can increase breastfeeding rates.

Supporting physiological (natural) birth practices and preventing more cesareans in obese women would likely increase breastfeeding rates in this group. So would more effective treatment for possible co-factors like PCOS, hypothyroidism, and anemia. So would less body shame towards larger bodies from society. And so would actual images of women of size breastfeeding!

So in addition to posting breastfeeding pictures of contemporary women of size, I've added some scenes of classic and modern art featuring plump women breastfeeding their children too.

[I anticipate that some folks might say that these women aren't truly fat. I would counter that it's hard to guess someone's BMI from a picture. Many women who don't really "look overweight" actually fall into the government's "overweight" and even "obese" BMI category. I'd say that most of these women would at least fall into the "overweight" category as defined by the government today, and some into the "obese" category too.]

The point is to counter the idea that being "overweight" or "obese" automatically prevents breastfeeding, or is unusual in fat women. Yes, progress needs to be made in increasing breastfeeding rates in high-BMI women, but it's not true that fat women can't or don't breastfeed.

I take this misperception personally. I breastfed four children for more than ten years cumulatively, even with PCOS, and I know many other fat women who have successfully breastfed long-term. We need to counter this idea that "all" or "most" fat women have trouble breastfeeding. Some do, and we need to offer those women understanding and support, learn from their stories, and investigate those issues further. But we also need to stop transforming this into the message that fat women can't and don't breastfeed for long.

Many fat women somehow manage to breastfeed in modern society, and they somehow managed to breastfeed in the past too, as these paintings and pictures demonstrate. It's time for more diversity of breastfeeding images in the media, and these are a start.

Enjoy!