As first reported on Love What Matters, Tara wrote that after seeing photos and memes supporting World Breastfeeding Week (an annual event to promote breastfeeding around the world) on her Facebook feed, she knew that she wanted to do something big for the celebration, which ran from August 1 to August 7.

“Hey, I have a close group of friends who are all currently nursing their babies. We have to get a picture of all of us in celebration of this week,” she recalled thinking. Tara then reached out to her friends as well as photographers Leandra Perez and Samantha Munoz.

Leandra, who spoke with CafeMom, says she couldn’t say no to the project “especially since I breastfed my own son.” She adds that she and Sam bounced ideas off each other for days, eventually settling for a local waterfall as the backdrop for the project. “I helped the girls pick dresses that would coordinate well for the session,” Leandra says. “The girls picked pretty floral head pieces to wear, Sam brought a beautiful floral headband for one of the babies to wear, and then we were ready to make this collaboration become a reality.” To help raise awareness, all the women also shared their stories behind these awe-inspiring photos in hopes that their experiences might show other women that breastfeeding is completely normal.

Tara explained to Love What Matters that when she had her first child six years ago, she wasn’t immediately sold on breastfeeding. “After doing an immense amount of research on the best nutrition for babies, I knew breastfeeding was right for myself and my future children,” she said. “My daughter took to my breast beautifully right after being born and we had a wonderful nursing relationship.” But shortly after Tara began to nurse in public, she began to notice that here was a stigma. “From then on, I knew I had to be more outspoken about normalizing breastfeeding. No woman should ever feel ashamed or judged for choosing to feed her child from her breast,” she said.

Tara continued to breastfeed her daughter even once she found out that she was pregnant with her second child. “My plan was to nurse my children full term until they chose to wean on their own. I ended up tandem nursing (the practice of nursing two siblings who are different ages) for two and a half years until my oldest was 4 and a half and she weaned. My youngest is 3 and a half and is still happily nursing a couple of times a day. She will wean when she is good and ready.”

But not everyone sees this as a good thing. Tara admits that she’s sometimes been on the receiving end of some harsh judgement. But that only makes her more passionate about being an advocate. “From a newborn to a big kid, every mother and child duo should feel love and support for choosing this way of nurturement.” “One of the special things about breastfeeding is that everyone’s experience is unique,” she explained. “We all start out and end up a little bit differently from each other, but we all do it out of the love we have for our children.”

Jaleesa Jones had the opposite experience. She explained that her breastfeeding journey “has been one of determination.” “Just six years ago this wasn’t my reality when I had my first,” she explained. “Trying everything that was suggested, I came to the realization my milk wasn’t coming in.” Jaleesa said that even though everyone expects breastfeeding to happen easily, for her “this most certainly isn’t the case.”

She spent her time “researching and trying new things.” She even tried drinking beer, thought to help aid in milk production, though she hated the taste. And though nothing seemed to be working, she never gave up hope through all five of her pregnancies. “With each child I tried and failed until I got to my fourth,” she said. In this photo Jaleesa is nursing her fifth child, “who happens to be my fourth boy but the first of my boys to breastfeed.” She explained that on the day of her son’s birth, her best friend Emerald, who is a lactation consultant, “came straight to my hospital room to make sure my baby boy was latched in that first hour of life.”

Jaleesa has had her own fair share of haters. “Every day I hear comments such as ‘You should cover in public’ or ‘It’s time for him to drink whole milk,'” but those comments don’t deter the mom. “These pictures are more than just a moment captured in time for me. It’s friends united through breastfeeding, but more importantly it’s my promise to our black women that I will take the backlash so that the ones to come after me don’t have to.”

Autumn Hicks said that when she began to breastfeed her daughter, she only had her body and her instincts to trust. “[I] continued until she was 3 and a half years old through working, going to school, and a very busy schedule!”

Autumn said that she didn’t know anyone else who breastfed past the age of 1, but she “turned to research and found evidence-based recommendations from health organizations such as the [World Health Organization] that recommended breastfeeding to a minimum of two years.” “My husband was my biggest support and he could tell that my daughter and I had such a wonderful bond,” Autumn explained. “She was not only getting milk as a toddler but comfort and love.”

The mom then went on to breastfeed her next two children and “now tandem nurse them both!” “I was so excited to get together with some of my closest friends to capture breastfeeding in a beautiful photo shoot,” she said. “I hope they inspire others and normalize breastfeeding for mothers in every walk of life. If you set your mind to it, you can do it!”

“I exclusively pumped for my first child for one year after receiving no help post-delivery,” Emerald Rice recalled. “My thesis highlighted breastfeeding disparities in the African American community and I began initiatives to increase the success rates for Black moms.”

And Emerald took her research to heart. “I went on to exclusively nurse my children for 3 years each and am currently nursing my 4th child,” she said. “As a lactation consultant, I feel that pictures like this are needed because not only do Black women breastfeed, but they also become lactation consultants. Diversity is important and these pictures depict women with varying backgrounds but common goals.”

Angela Wahl said when she was asked to be part of the photoshoot, she was “instantly thrilled about the idea. I love how these photos capture the love we as mothers have for our children, as well as the support we have for one another.” For Angela, support from her friends and family has been “a significant factor in my breastfeeding success with my four daughters.” “My husband has been there from the beginning, loving and understanding my desire to be successful with breastfeeding,” she said. “I also have a group of amazing friends who have nursed my baby when I was away and she wouldn’t take a bottle.”

But Angela has had her own share of troubles. “My first daughter had a difficult time latching properly and I was told I would need to supplement with formula,” she recalled. Though she was determined to “give her my milk exclusively.” In the end, Angela pumped for her first child, but her next three girls took “took to my breast right away and I nursed each of them for over a year.” “Being a busy homeschooling mama, I know the struggle of ‘keeping up with everything.’ I love that I can feed, comfort, and connect with my baby through nursing while tending to my other children.” Angela admits that “breastfeeding can definitely have its challenges” but shares that “with the love and support from family and friends, it can end up being a beautiful gift.”