Hockey player mother breastfeeding in the middle of match receives applause

Serah Small feels proud of how she has the power to feed her baby even during difficult hours

Mothers have to take out all the time in the world when their babies require sustenance. It doesn’t matter where they are; they have to feed the baby whenever duty calls.

Recently, a mother posted a beautiful picture on Facebook, showing her breastfeeding her baby during an ice hockey tournament, showing just how hard mothers constantly work for their children, The Independent reported.

Serah Small, a teacher from Alberta, Canada is a mother to an eight-week-old daughter known as Ellie.

She didn’t anticipate how problematic it would be when picking up to exercise again following pregnancy.



“I have really struggled with accepting my new body as I have always had that athletic build,” she wrote on Facebook.

“I have played hockey my whole life and when I found out I was pregnant I signed up to play in two tournaments in March trusting that my body would just ‘bounce back’.”

However, playing ice hockey again was a lot tougher than Small had anticipated.

“My body wasn’t doing the things my brain thought it could,” she wrote.

Small felt proud of how she has the power to feed her baby even during difficult hours, which was when she came off the ice.



“But I have never been more proud of myself and my body,” she wrote. “I felt my milk come in and leak as I played and between periods I would strip down to feed my eight week old babe.

“Being a mum is absolutely amazing and I’m so happy I got to do something I absolutely love while still meeting my babies needs [sic].

“Our bodies are amazing and this weekend was the first time I truly appreciated mine.”

The mother felt anxious when she thought of sharing the picture online, as she was scared of a negative response. However, a lactation consultant offered to make her realize that she shouldn’t feel embarrassed of this.

“Although at times I feel the burn of judgemental eyes I feel more empowered than anything to be able to meet my babies needs the way my body intended [sic],” she said.

Instead, Small acknowledged an overwhelming and positive response on Facebook as majority praised and supported her part to normalise images of breastfeeding on social media.

This article originally appeared on The Independent.