Breastfeeding Project | educating men about the importance of breastfeeding

In an effort to educate men about breastfeeding - and all the nipple guards, latching problems and mastitis that come with it - a new advertising campaign is using gender-bending images to get their attention. The ad images show shirtless men clutching an infant to their breast, much like a nursing mother would. And the message is loud and clear: 'Project Breastfeeding. If I Could, I Would.' Hector Cruz, a father-of-two and the founder of Project Breastfeeding, told MailOnline: 'My goal is getting dads involved. When it comes to breastfeeding we think its none of our business, so we think that it's not our duty - but that's so not true.' 'A father can make or break a breastfeeding relationship between child and mother. If he's not going to support her, it's likely shes going to give up,' Mr Cruz explained, adding: 'But there's no resources [about breastfeeding] for men. 'So I wanted to give dads a voice. Dads' roles have been so dumped down in the last 50 years. I want to let them know they play a crucial and vital role in the breastfeeding relationship between mom and baby.' After Mr Cruz's wife, Nicole, gave birth to their daughter Sophia in October 2013 via C-section, she struggled with breastfeeding, and Mr Cruz, who realized that most of the information about breastfeeding targets mothers, struggled to understand how he could help. 'My wife would cry herself to sleep at night and I just didn't know what to do,' recalled Mr Cruz. 'I wasn't allowed to go to her breastfeeding class at Gateway Hospital in Clarksville, Tennessee, where my daughter was born, because god forbid if I saw another woman's breast. 'So I had no idea what to do, I had no idea how I could help her.' Read more ...