A woman began to breastfeed in the Science World museum when a volunteer directed her to the nursing room. Because Kristen George was with her 23-month-old and her 8-week-old nursling, she stayed put, keeping an eye on one child while soothing the infant.
I’ve always felt a little self-conscious, so I usually pump and bring a bottle, but I had forgotten it this time.
George was in the section of the museum specifically for infants and kids, and says she was wearing a baggy shirt that covered her. She says she was approached by a young man who asked her to move. Then when she responded that she wasn’t “doing anything wrong,” he said what she was doing was,
Morally wrong
His words were loud enough to catch the attention of other parents, now making something otherwise mostly overlooked into a spectacle.Fabulous.
In Michigan City, Indiana, the mother of a breastfed 11-month-old was asked to leave an Olive Garden restaurant after she refused to give her baby lunch in the bathroom.
Margaret Naas said her daughter Katie wanted to eat shortly after she’d ordered. She said she pulled half of her halter top down to feed the baby.
Soon, the manager (a woman) cited other customer complaints and offered her use of the restroom to feed her child.
A lactation consultant from the nearby WIC, Tammy Pray, who contacted the media regarding this situation, told The News-Dispatch,
That’s disgusting! Who would want to feed their children in a bathroom?
Not only that, it should not be compared to other natural functions of the body, like urination, defecation, or even–recently heard by yours truly–decomposition. Because poop isn’t food, despite what your dog might think. Breastmilk is.
Unfortunately, many people are still ignorant of this fact and continue to whine about mamas feeding their children in public. So I thought I’d share a few counterpoints, just for the anti-breastfeeding-in-public crowd.
Starting with this:
See, it’s not so much about a woman’s right to breastfeed in public or her supposed “need” to expose herself. It should also be viewed as the child’s right to eat.
A woman in the Red Hook, Brooklyn Ikea store reported being sent to the family washroom because she was breastfeeding publicly–though covered–in the store.
She and her 6 ½ month old daughter then had to wait in line at this facility, causing the hungry babe to get very upset.
The unnamed mother posted her experience on a Yahoo! group listserv, where she said that she’s going to file a formal compliant. New York law says that women are allowed to breastfeed anywhere in public or private.
We realize you’ve got a lot on your mind these days, like the economy, health care, and the entire Middle East, but if you have one second to take a look at this petition from the United States Breastfeeding Committee, we’d really appreciate it.
I get the sense that you probably think breastfeeding is a no-brainer. You’re smart like that. With all the health benefits for mom and baby, you’d think moms would be scrambling to attach their babies to their boobs.
And you can’t beat the price of breastmilk, particularly as our economy is sinking fast. Not that you need me to remind you of that situation. Formula is pretty darn expensive (but they don’t tell you that when they send you home with that ugly black bag and all those free samples) and the money families are spending on formula could go to helping them stay afloat during these crazy times.
So maybe you’d be surprised to know that there are still millions of new moms who head straight for the bottle (well, that one too, but mostly I’m talking about the formula bottles) without even giving breastfeeding a chance.
Augh. It’s happened again.
