The Lactating Breast
From Thumbnail to Final —
Taking this moment in as a whole, a mother breastfeeding her child may look peaceful and calm (the mother—gently holding her new child, the baby— suckling with soft pudgy fingers tapping mom’s body). However, looking closer we can see that this is, in fact, a very active scene. In these moments of tenderness and softness, both bodies working incredibly hard and tremendous effort is being exerted.
I started this piece thinking it will just be about the latch. I thought the most interesting story to tell is exactly how the baby and the mom fit perfectly together.
Almost as soon as I started looking for information, I found that according to most recent studies, the structure of the lactating milk ducts is very misunderstood, and that I had a chance to create an image that hasn’t been made before.
Under the Surface
I wanted to try and show not just the anatomy that is under the surface, but also to emphasize a tension and contrast that is not seen from the outside. In this moment, seconds after an infant begins feeding, the mother’s body reacts to the child, and a series of changes are quickly triggered. The body morphs as the mother feels engorgement and “let-down”. With a wave of a tingling feeling, both breasts swell, and appear lumpy. Suddenly the breasts feel solid and hard— blood vessels bulge and the milk ducts fili up against the tissues, milk gushing toward the nipple. The baby, in turn, helps ease the discomfort by ‘pumping’ the milk and drinking their fill, a very taxing task for their tiny bodies.
Research & References
These are some images I collected, both to inform the anatomy component (some show incorrect anatomy, based on the studies I worked with), as well as reference for the composition, and “bigger picture”.
The main paper I based my image on can be found here.
Geddes, D.T. Ultrasound imaging of the lactating breast: methodology and application. Int Breastfeed J4, 4 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-4358-4-4
Growing Pains
A quick look at the different stages, and how things changed as I tried different things and this piece developed.