Photo Of Soldiers Breastfeeding In Uniform Goes Viral
“Today I believe we made history,” Ruby captioned this image. “To my knowledge a group photo to show support of active duty military mommies nursing their little’s has never been done. It is so nice to see support for this here at Fort Bliss.” [Photo: Facebook/Tara Ruby Photography]
A group of female US soldiers hope to normalise breastfeeding within the hyper-masculine context of the army with a snapshot of them all nursing their children.
The photo, which went viral almost immediately, is part of a project taken on by Tara Ruby – a former Air Force service member who served between 1997 and 2001.
When she was an active duty mum, Ruby says there were virtually no places in the army where she could breastfeed privately. Instead, she had to sneak into bathrooms and empty offices to pump milk for her newborn son.
So she was thrilled to hear that the Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso, Texas, had opened a lactation room – and came up with the perfect way to decorate the room’s walls. Ruby, now a professional photographer, sought to take a photo of active servicewomen nursing their children – in order to hang the snapshot on the wall of the lactation room.
“I thought it was be nice to offer some photographs as an additional show of support,” she told CNN. “Seeing a picture like that helps mothers understand they can be an active soldier and provide support to their children.”
Ruby approached the base to seek out active duty soldiers to model in the photos and hoping she would get two or three volunteers, she was bowled over when 10 women showed up for the shoot with their children in tow.
“I think it’s great the Army is supporting active duty mothers,“ Ruby said. "Sometimes, you hit a point in your military career where you have to choose between being a soldier and a mother, and a photo like this helps mothers so they don’t have to choose. ”
Ruby posted the pic with the hashtag #normalisebreastfeeding on her business’ Facebook page on Thursday night – but it was removed on Friday, for reasons that weren’t explained to her by the social media site. However, she reposted it and it still remains.
Within a day, it had been shared thousands of times and received hundreds of supportive comments.
The pic’s been shared and liked thousands of times. [Photo: Facebook/Tara Ruby Photography]
“Through the guidance of my military friends, the Fort Bliss P3T Program and Breastfeeding in Combat Boots, our Garrison command and our Public Affairs, we were able to show that even our mommies in uniform can provide for their babies,” she said.
“Breastfeeding their babies doesn’t make them less of a soldier, I believe it makes them a better one. Juggling the tasks and expectations of a soldier, plus providing for their own in the best way they possibly can, makes (these) ladies even stronger for it.
“Practically speaking, it’s a matter of retention,” she said. “Mothers need support so they don’t have to choose between family and service.”
Do you think there’s still more that needs to be done to normalise breastfeeding? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.
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