Facebook Takes Down Touching Image Of A Mother Breastfeeding Her Premature Daughter After Another User Called It Offensive

Social media portals can surely be one tricky place. Though they urge you to share your personal, and intimate moments, there’s no guarantee that those snapshots will get the respect they deserve. Claiming the image violated their policy about the public display of nudity, Facebook has taken down a touching image of a woman breastfeeding her severely premature baby.

A photograph of a mother breastfeeding her severely premature baby for the first time went viral after it was removed from Facebook because, apparently, it “breached nudity rules.” Emma Bond, 24, posted the picture of herself with her third child Carene. The daughter was born 12 weeks (3 months) premature and appeared very frail but stable.

Emma had put up the picture of her breastfeeding Carene for the first time, and surprisingly, Facebook took down the photo despite the mother ensuring the photo was visible only to those she had approved as online friends, reported Mirror. The mother of two was shocked when the site took the photo down within a few short hours of it going live, after an anonymous person – presumed to be one of her friends – reported it as offensive.

Not to be outdone, Emma uploaded the image to a pro-breastfeeding Facebook group. Needless to say, the ‘offensive’ photo gained more than 150,000 likes. But Facebook still seemed to be acting like a bully, because by Monday, the 22,000 users who re-posted it also had their links deleted.

The photo and moment are indeed quite special for the proud parents because Carene was born on October 3 by an emergency cesarean section and weighed just 2lb 2oz. Though Carene had survived child-birth, Miss Bond and partner Ashley Kitchen, 30, were warned by doctors that Carene’s chances of making it past a few days were quite slim, reported the Daily Mail. Doctors estimated poor Carene would not live more than three days.

However, little Carene has proved the medical fraternity wrong. Speaking about the miraculous survivor and fighter, Emma said,

“Two weeks prior to this being taken, I was told my daughter would die, so to then find yourself able to breastfeed was an incredible step. Everyone was aware it was touch and go, so I was sharing the special moment with people to show them how far she had come.”

But then in a shocking twist, despite adequate precautions about privacy, Facebook took down the photo, continued Emma,

“The original photo was only viewable by my friends and family. It was a magical moment and to have it removed the same day for breaching nudity policies was really rubbing salt in the wound.”

Though baby Carene has survived, it is quite likely she has suffered serious brain damage, fear the doctor. Emma and Ashley travel to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford every day to see her. With thousands backing the couple and praying for the little survivor, Facebook has relented and reinsitated the photo saying it was “removed in error.”

[Update] Since the incident, Facebook has revised its policy. In a message to Bond, a representative said,

“Facebook [has] modified the way it reviews reports of nudity to better examine the context of the photo or image. As a result of this, photos that show a nursing mothers’ other breast will be allowed even if it is full exposed, as will mastectomy photos showing a fully exposed other breast.”

[Image Credit | Newsteam]