Thamalia fell down the stairs, landed in hospital, but her main concern was breastfeeding her baby.

Mums, by nature, are tough cookies. It sort of comes with the job description. Another standard mum quality is always putting your child’s needs above your own.

But this mum has taken it to a whole new level and a photo of her breastfeeding her son is being shared for all the right reasons.

Originally shared by the Breastfeeders in Australia Instagram page, the picture shows Thamalia Muller Benjamin Greenbury-Hall lying in a hospital bed with a foam collar supporting her neck. She has tubes and machines everywhere. It’s clear she is not in a good way.

Next to her lays her tiny baby, snuggled at his mother’s breast enjoying a feed. He is wrapped in a warm blanket and despite the situation both mum and baby look calm and content.

With so many breastfeeding shaming stories in the media, this picture has been used to praise nurses and doctors who helped the mum feed her son despite the situation she found herself in.

Thamalia explains that the photo was taken the morning after she suffered a serious fall down a flight of twelve stairs. Incredibly she did not suffer any broken bones but was left feeling battered and bruised.

In typical mum style, she says that while riding in the ambulance her concern was not her own condition but rather her son.

“I was so nervous the ride (sic) to the hospital knowing that my son wouldn’t have a bar of the bottle and he was well and truly due for a feed. Thankfully I had some great nurses and doctors that helped me through it and didn’t even say a word about us co-sleeping.”

It’s a situation that a lot of breastfeeding mothers are familiar with. If something happens to you, something happens to your baby.

It’s not always as easy as ‘oh, just give him a bottle of formula‘. A lot of breastfed babies, like mine and like Thamalia’s, won’t take a bottle.

The comments which follow Thamalia’s post highlight that this is a common concern for breastfeeding mums.

“Wow well done! I always worried about emergencies taking me away from my breastfeeding son when he was little, so great to see the support! Must if helped put your mind at rest during such a stressful time. Hope you recover quickly!” writes one lady.

It’s times like these that breastfeeding mums need to be supported in their feeding relationship. For Thamalia it was through the wonderful staff at Greenbury-Hall Hospital.

Jacqui with her son Jett. Image: Provided[/img_caption]

It's a situation that I too have been in.

When my son was very young I needed emergency surgery. When I woke in a hospital bed my first concern was whether my son had been fed.

I was told that I needed to stay in the hospital and my heart sank. I thought that would mean that I would have to give up breastfeeding. My husband was also in hospital at the time and without him there, the staff would not let my baby stay with me.

I remember sobbing big, heavy tears alone in that room mourning something that I had worked so hard to get right believing that this was the end.

But it wasn't. Over the next few days my mother-in-law brought my son to me in the hospital for each feed and for that support I am forever grateful. She supported us throughout that stressful time and it allowed me to focus on my own recovery knowing that our feeding relationship with my son wasn't going to be terminated because of a situation, rather than a decision I had made.

Most of the time we think of breastfeeding as something just between a mother and child but as Thamalia's post point out, sometimes it is the support and assistance of others in difficult situations that allows it to continue.