A mum has been praised for sharing the reality of motherhood with a photo of her breastfeeding on the floor of a department store in New South Wales.
For Sarah Mills, the dreaded 'back-to-school-shop' was not an event she looked forward to – but with her two oldest kids Hendrix, 10, and Monroe, seven, heading back to their classes, it had to be done.
The 33-year-old from Mid North Coast said she has suffered with anxiety for most of her life and knows that if an attack is creeping up on her, she will need to take a moment to sit still and breathe.
The blogger explained that during a trip to her local Target to get school supplies, she became overwhelmed after her two older kids were fighting, and her youngest, Morrison, three, was being a 'typical three-nager'.
As Sarah's anxiety began rearing its ugly head, she needed a moment to recuperate – so she sat in the middle of the children's shoe aisle at Target to take a breath.
And after Morrison became hungry, Sarah breastfed him on the floor in the aisle – and her daughter decided to snap a photograph.
"I'd had a really tough couple of days, and I was completely overwhelmed. The kids needed school supplies and as much as I needed to just be in bed, I had no choice but to take all three out for the dreaded back to school shop," said Sarah.
"We'd been to several shops, the kids kept changing their minds about what they want, the fighting was non-stop, the toddler was being a typical 'threenager' and my heart started racing.
"I thought to myself 'here we go'. Over the years I have learnt to recognise when a massive anxiety attack is about to hit. I needed a moment. I knew all three children weren't about to stop what they were doing and put everything back so mama could go and ground herself."
Sarah said she's "too deep into single parenting" to worry about people being offended by her breastfeeding.
The quiet moment helped relax and calm both her and the three kids, she said – but added she did receive a 'disgusted' look from another customer who walked past.
"I had a woman look at me in disgust, I don't know if it's because I was on the ground, because I was breastfeeding in public, or because I was feeding a giant toddler," she said.
"But in that moment, nothing could bother me. For my own sanity I needed that moment.
"After about 15 minutes I got up and carried on with our trip. Still a little rattled, but strong enough to carry on with the day."
The photo of her breastfeeding has racked up hundreds of likes, shares and comments on Facebook from other parents from praising Sarah.
And she has received some hateful comments online, most of the feedback has been positive and Sarah has received many messages from other mum's who said they can relate.
"My post resonated with a lot of women who have said it was so real and that they had gone through similar experiences," said Sarah.
"Later stage breastfeeding is still frowned upon unfortunately, and I've gotten lots of negative comments when I've breastfed in public.
"It's the most natural thing in the entire universe. It's nasty that a lot of women are subjected to negativity because of it."
Caters News
