The knitted breasts are part of the kit for every BfN peer supporter and are sent out to our volunteers and services every year. They are handmade and gifted to us from around the UK – not just by our supporters, but also by family and friends, past BfN members and even local communities, such as knitting groups and book clubs.
Lorna J Hartwell, BfN Supporter, Tutor and Supervisor and the original creator of the knitted breast, tells us a little about its history and how it came to be part of the Designing Motherhood exhibition.
When I qualified as a breastfeeding supporter back in 1987, the most often used visual aid was an inflated balloon with a felt pen circle around the knotted end to signify the nipple. A fabric breast was available, but this was a rather medicalised visual aid to help diagnose an inverted nipple and an abscess rather than support breastfeeding. There were other breasts, made of wood or plastic, and some people made breasts from felt or stockings.
After a few years, I became keen to create something that was accessible to more people. They needed to be homely, warm and relatively cheap – and very importantly, could also help to normalise the fact that breasts are different to each other as well as different for each woman. The pattern deliberately has two different-sized breasts and nipples, with one nipple much flatter than the other.
I’m not a creative knitter, so I asked a friend who was able to have them knitted as I described them and then write up the pattern. This was around 1994/95.
Fast forward to 2024, and I received an email from Caroline Reid, a BfN supporter in London, asking about the history of the knitted breasts pattern. Her friend Amber Winick was putting together an exhibition called Designing Motherhood. She hoped to include the knitted breasts and write about them as visual aids from a design perspective.
I was happy to agree to the knitting pattern being in the exhibition and was invited to the opening in Stockholm, which I sadly couldn’t attend. But when an invitation arrived to the most recent opening in New York City at the Museum of Art and Design, my family immediately said that I must go to see it. I asked my friend Joy Hastings, BfN Tutor/Supervisor, to join me, and she was delighted to come along too.
We flew to New York earlier this year as the second snowstorm of January arrived. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk through Central Park and the snow, as we had to wait a day to visit the Museum.
Here we are standing, with the pattern, in front of the display case with the knitted breasts in the Designing Motherhood exhibition. The exhibits include many items that have some connection with motherhood, from pre-conception to the baby.
It felt like a real honour that the knitted breasts and the BfN were included.
We are so grateful to everyone who has knitted breasts for us over the years. Here are just some of the amazing donations we’ve had recently.
The BfN knitted breasts pattern is available to download here. If you would like to send us some knitted breasts, please post them to: PO Box 11126, Paisley PA2 8YB.