Anna Poteet said a trio of ᴛᴜʙᴇ-Fᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀs sʜᴏᴡᴇᴅ up after she put out calls for her “fed is best” photo shoot.Anna Poteet thought she’d get a mix of moms and babies who feed in various ways when she put out a call for her “fed is best” photo shoot. But the project took on a new purpose when “only tube feeding mamas showed up.”
“The idea was to gather moms together and show the world that no matter how your baby is fed, whether … ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛFᴇᴅ, formula-fed, tube-fed, you should be accepted and just kind of breaking through some of the negative things that are included when ‘ᴍᴏᴍ-sʜᴀᴍɪɴɢ’ takes place,” she told Good Morning America.
The Facebook photos show a trio of moms and babies, with the little ones all ʜᴏᴏᴋᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ Fᴇᴇᴅɪɴɢ tubes. The Sept. 16 post has been shared nearly 8,000 times.
“I am so thankful to be able to bring some awareness to thisI see so many people genuinely asking questions on my post and it is bringing a new understanding.” Poteet said
Poteet, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, told Yahoo that she recently became passionate about feeding because her 4-month-old has had trouble eating and gaining ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ. Thus, she was inspired to celebrate parents and babies no matter how they feed.
“The idea was to gather moms together and show the world that no matter how your baby is fed, whether it being ʙʀᴇᴀsᴛFᴇᴅ, formula-fed, tube-fed, you should be accepted,” Poteet said.
Hendrickson posed with her 6-month-old daughter Katherine, who has sᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ ʀᴇFʟᴜx ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀs ʜᴀᴅ ᴛʀᴏᴜʙʟᴇ sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ since she was born.
“She sᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴏɴsᴛᴀɴᴛ ᴠᴏᴍɪᴛɪɴɢ, ʟᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏᴏʀ ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ gain,” When she was 3-months-old, the doctors placed a feeding tube through her nose, down into her small intestine.”Hendrickson told Yahoo.
She has since started gaining ᴡᴇɪɢʜᴛ and doctors are working to improve her sᴡᴀʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴅᴅʀᴇss ʜᴇʀ ʀᴇFʟᴜx, the mother told Yahoo.
Samantha Parsons said her 5-month-old daughter Hailey has had issues nursing and bottle-feeding since she was born. Parsons told Yahoo that “when weeks led into months of her not eating right,” doctors ɪɴsᴇʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴀ ɴᴀsᴀʟ ᴛᴜʙᴇ.
“She gets fed by pump continuously into her intestine rather than stomach, because she has a ʜɪsᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏF ᴀsᴘɪʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ,” Parsons said.
At 2-years-old, Brianna Lorenzo’s son Bellamy is about the size of a 1-year-old and is ᴛᴜʙᴇ-Fᴇᴅ ᴅᴜᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀʟʟᴇʀɢɪᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴄɪᴅ ʀᴇFʟᴜx, she told Yahoo.
“In just three weeks, he has already gained 3 lbsHe is now thriving instead of surviving.”she said of Bellamy’s G-tube.
