Need more proof that moms are incredibly strong and incredibly good at multi-tasking?
Check out this sweet image captured by New Jersey-based photographer Maegan Dougherty of a mama pausing during early labor to breastfeed her eldest daughter.
In late November, Dougherty’s client Kate Neal (also a photographer), was induced by her midwives because of some concerns about her blood pressure. Her labor was progressing pretty slowly, Neal told HuffPost, so she and her husband decided to call their parents ― who were watching the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Rowan ― to pop by for a quick visit.
“I had already been away from her for a while and I missed her,” Neal said. “She is 2, so she nurses only about two times a day, and it is primarily for comfort.”
Neal did not have an epidural, but she wasn’t in active labor yet, so she felt totally comfortable breastfeeding Rowan. The two nursed and hugged for about 15 minutes, after which Neal took a few laps around the hospital and Rowan left.
“It was such a normal and natural moment,” Dougherty told The Huffington Post. “Simple and beautiful at the same time.”
Soon after, Neal went into active labor. And roughly two hours after that, her youngest daughter ― Sloane ― was born.
Almost immediately, Sloane latched onto her mother’s breast. Though Neal thought it might feel very different to breastfeed a newborn hours after nursing a much bigger, more active toddler, she said she was surprised by how similar it was.
“I felt much stronger than I would have expected,” she said. “But I felt right at home with the whole process and just as much in love with it.”
