Military mums big up breastfeeding with powerful pic

A former US Air Force service member has taken a photo of military women breastfeeding to show her support for a new nursing room in the Army headquarters of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

The picture, which has gone viral, was taken by Tara Ruby who served in the Air Force between 1997 and 2001 when, she says, “support for breastfeeding moms wasn’t even an option or consideration”. As an active duty mother, Tara remembers using bathrooms and empty offices to pump milk for her newborn son.

Now a photographer, she offered to donate pictures to the new nursing room, which has comfortable chairs, a sink and a fridge for storing milk – things that make a big difference for breastfeeding mums at work. Shared more than 4,000 times in almost 24 hours, the military mums pic is one of the inspiring and inviting images for the new lactation room.

Tara originally posted the photo to her Facebook business page Facebook on Thursday night, but after it was removed for ‘unknown reasons’ she posted it again on Friday. Thanking everyone who supported her vision to #normalizebreastfeeding, she said, “Today I believe we made history. 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.”