Mum-of-three praised for sharing photo of her breastfeeding on shop floor

A mum-of-three has been praised for sharing the reality of motherhood with a photograph of her breastfeeding her toddler on the floor in the middle of a department store.

Sarah Mills was dreading the 'back to school' shop but with her two eldest children, Hendrix, 10 and Monroe, seven, returning to school soon she didn't have much choice.

The 33-year-old single mother from Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia, has suffered with anxiety for most of her life and said despite feeling like she "needed to just be in bed" she didn't have much choice but to take her three children to the shops.

Understanding her anxiety, she also knows that if she can feel an attack creeping up, she will need to take a moment to sit still and breathe.

The blogger explained that during a trip to her local Target department store to get school supplies, she became overwhelmed after her two older kids were fighting, and her youngest Morrison, three, was being a 'typical three-nager'.

As Sarah felt an imminent anxiety attack, she realised she needed a moment to recuperate so sat in the middle of the children's shoe aisle at Target to take a breath.

Then when Morrison became hungry, Sarah breastfed her son sitting on the floor of that aisle and her daughter snapped a photo of what was happening.

Sarah said: "I’d had a really tough couple of days, and I was completely overwhelmed.

"The kids needed school supplies and as much as I needed to just be in bed, I had no choice but to take all three out for the dreaded back to school shop.

"We’d been to several shops, the kids kept changing their minds about what they want, the fighting was non-stop, the toddler was being a typical ‘threenager’ and my heart started racing.

"I thought to myself ‘here we go’. Over the years I have learnt to recognise when a massive anxiety attack is about to hit.

"I needed a moment. I knew all three children weren’t about to stop what they were doing and put everything back so mama could go and ground herself.

"So, in the middle of Target, I sat on the floor. I am too deep into single parenting to care about what others might think and only do what is ‘socially acceptable’

"I sat and breathed through the techniques I’ve learnt over the years of battling anxiety."

Sarah said that the quiet moment helped relax and calm both her and the three kids but added she did receive a "disgusted" look from another customer who walked past.

"Morrison came to sit with me asking for a drink, relieved he’d be sitting still for a minute I happily obliged," she explained.

"Monroe amused herself looking at sandals and Hendrix sat trying on a pair of shoes he wanted.

"So, I sat, I counted, I took some breaths and I centred myself.

"I had a woman look at me in disgust, I don’t know if it’s because I was on the ground, because I was breastfeeding in public, or because I was feeding a giant toddler.

"But in that moment, nothing could bother me. For my own sanity I needed that moment.

"After about 15 minutes I got up and carried on with our trip. Still a little rattled, but strong enough to carry on with the day.

"Sometimes, no matter where we are, we just need to stop, forget what others are thinking and do whatever it takes to get us through that moment.

"You’re not alone. Not all of us are okay 100% of the time.

"It’s okay to not always keep it together, it’s okay to need a moment, it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to sit down before you reach the point where you can’t breathe.

"You’re not broken. You’re human. It’s okay to feel."

The powerful photograph has racked up hundreds of likes, shares and comments on Facebook from other parents from around the world who have praised Sarah for being so real, honest and raw.

And although the mum said she has received some hateful comments online, most of the feedback has been positive and Sarah has received many messages from other mums who said they can relate.

Sarah said: "My post resonated with a lot of women who have said it was so real and that they had gone through similar experiences.

Some of the comments said I was just looking for attention by having my breasts out and things like that.

"Later stage breastfeeding is still frowned upon unfortunately, and I’ve gotten lots of negative comments when I’ve breastfed in public.

"It’s the most natural thing in the entire universe. It’s nasty that a lot of women are subjected to negativity because of it."