The moment of connection between a mum and her newborn baby is a miraculous one. But for Sarah, it was especially meaningful.
Sarah discovered that she had stage three breast cancer in her left breast and would need to be treated for it while pregnant with her third baby, reports KidSpot.
Doctors removed her left breast, and she started chemo soon after – assured that her baby’s placenta would protect it from the drugs. However, they couldn’t prevent the chemo drugs from getting into her breastmilk.
Of all the things she feared, not being able to breastfeed her baby was the most heartbreaking.
‘I wanted more than anything to be able to breastfeed, even if only for a short time,’ she told NWF Daily News.
Doctors timed her treatment carefully, hoping to ensure all the chemotherapy drugs were gone from her system before she gave birth, in the hopes that she would be able to breastfeed her newborn.
This photo, captured by Kate Murray Photography, captures the incredibly touching moment her newborn latches and Sarah is able to feed him like she had always hoped.
Sarah has been given two weeks to to nurse new baby, Kal, and then she will continue with her chemo treatments.
‘I don’t want to sleep because all I want to do is treasure every moment he is at the breast,’ she told Gentle Birth Centre, who posted the original photo.