A powerful photo of a mother and her 3-day-old baby has been shared from its photographer's Facebook page over 60,000 times since posted last week.
The photographer, Helen Aller, is a British mother of two who is currently eight months pregnant with her third child.
The subject of her black and white photo is an unnamed woman Aller claimed was frightened of having a C-section before she was forced to do so.
The 29-year-old photographer captioned the photo,
I photographed this mama's pregnancy a while back and she was telling me how terrified she was of having a c-section. Well last week she went into labor but had to have an emergency c-section after complications. She asked me to come over this morning and shoot this particular image as her worst nightmare proved to be what saved her and her child's lives.
The photo, which garnered over 205,000 likes, also received some backlash for its candid quality.
Aller says several users went as far as reporting the image in an attempt to have it taken down.
Most critics were outraged by the fresh cesarean wound and by the baby's position atop the mother's genitals in the photo.
According to the photographer, had the baby been positioned any higher, her subject ran the risk of reopening her healing incision.
Many users jumped to the defense of Aller and the new mother.
Aller edited her original Facebook post with the photo to reflect the responses it received.
In spite of those who judged her work negatively, the expecting artist is proud to have had a positive impact on some.
She said,
People like the picture, but it's more about those women who've had caesareans who can relate to each other. So many said they felt like they'd failed. I looked at that picture and felt completely different.
Although Aller remains anxious about the potential of having a C-section during her upcoming delivery, this photograph surely softened the stigma.
Citations: The scar that saved a baby's life: Poignant photo of a mother with her newborn sleeping peacefully next to her emergency C-section wound goes viral (Daily Mail)
