There was a story on the News this morning about a few women who had been kicked out of a restaurant for breastfeeding their children. Unfortunately I only caught a small portion of the actual story (my children were being rather noisy).
From what I gather, the restaurant owner complained that they were not being “discreet” enough and were making other customers uncomfortable.
It seems to me that everyone has an opinion on breastfeeding and I’m not really sure why it is always an issue. Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed our children. Not only is it the best thing that we can feed our children but there are other proven benefits as well.
I think that quite possibly the issue with breastfeeding in public is the fact that a woman’s breast is partially exposed. More importantly it’s the fact that society has sexualized the woman’s breast, so much so that to think of the breast as having any other purpose makes us uncomfortable.
I am currently breastfeeding my 9 mth old daughter and breastfed my son until he was 14 mths. I believe that breastfeeding is the best and healthiest way to feed my children. Personally I do not have an issue with breastfeeding my child in public and to be honest I don’t try to “cover up”. When I first started breastfeeding I tried to cover up but I always found it quite difficult and it made me uncomfortable (being comfortable when breastfeeding is very important to have proper flow).
I do try to be discreet by making sure that my shirt is covering the majority of my breast and the child’s mouth is latched on the rest. The child’s head, neck and body as well as my arm cover any bare skin on my abdomen that may be exposed. In my experience with breastfeeding in public has mostly been very positive. I’ve had elderly ladies come and tell me how lucky I am to be able to breastfeed my child and that it’s the best thing that I can do for my child. I’ve had two negative experiences (involving the same people both times) but I find ignoring the comment works fine for me.
Currently the campaign is “Breast is Best” is being promoted and to be honest I’m not sure who is behind the campaign but I do know that the goal is to increase the number of mothers who do breastfeed and to educate the public. I do wish the public would be more tolerant of everyone – not just breastfeeding mothers!
