A series of photos captured the beautiful moment of a mother breastfeeding during labor by professional photographer Maegan Dougherty

When parents decide to involve their first child in the birth of their youngest, emotion is always guaranteed. It was one of those cases where the American photographer Maegan Dougherty had the opportunity to register.

The eldest not only accompanied her brother’s birth but was also responsible for this beautiful moment: while her mother was in labor, she breastfed her eldest daughter, who was two years old.

In a series of photos captured by professional photographer Maegan Dougherty, who was present at the birth, Kate can be seen breastfeeding her 2-year-old daughter while waiting for the little one to be born.

Breastfeed during pregnancy

Breastfeeding even helps with contractions, which become longer and more intense. Therefore, the mother’s attitude also helped in the birth of the baby. With the publication, a question came up: can you breastfeed during pregnancy?

This is a question that many women have. Yes, it is possible, but it is necessary to be aware of some issues: “Breastfeeding is a process that involves a very high nutritional demand, and the mother needs to eat well. When she is pregnant, she also needs to maintain a good nutritional supply,” explains Wagner Rodrigues Hernandez, Master in Obstetrics from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (USP).

It is also necessary to keep in mind that, as we said above, breastfeeding stimulates uterine contractions, that is, when it comes to exclusive breastfeeding (in which the baby is only fed with the mother’s milk), it can increase the chance of premature birth.

Another consideration is that breastfeeding elevates prolactin, a hormone that helps increase milk production and can often make ovulation more difficult. Thus, it is possible that during the period of breastfeeding, the puerperal woman has difficulty getting pregnant, if she so wishes.

Breastfeeding during labor

But what about when we talk about offering breast milk to the firstborn while the mother goes through the process of giving birth? Does practice help or hinder? “Nipple suction causes the woman to have contractions. So, in that regard, it would even be positive if she could have more contractions during labor, but it’s not something we see on a daily basis. We also believe that the issue of nutrients (mentioned above) does not have such a big impact at this time”, emphasizes the obstetrician.

The specialist adds one more curiosity: in the past when doctors needed the patient to have contractions when doing the cardiotocography exam – to measure the baby’s heart rate – one of the measures adopted was precise to stimulate the pregnant woman’s nipple. Despite this, it is important to make it clear that all these issues must be discussed with the obstetrician who monitors the pregnancy so that he can give the correct guidance at this very important moment in the life of the woman and the family.