A smattering of links to stories from around the US and the rest of the world about the nurse-in.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Be Very Proud, Portland Mamas!
Thank you everyone who came and spread the word about the nurse-in! We had FORTY moms and their nurslings, plus one grandma at Portland International Airport today. Channels 2, 6, 8, and 12 came to interview participants (that's ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX). A reporter from Oregon Public Broadcasting, a reporter from the Camas-Washougal Post Record, and a photographer from the AP were there as well. I spoke with two AP reporters (one local and one national) by phone in the morning. I also talked with Oregnonian columnist Renee Mitchell (former breastfeeding mom of twins) in the afternoon. I haven't seen the final tally yet, but there were at least 773 people at 35 airports across the country today and I think ours was one of the largest gatherings. And not that there's any competition or anything, but I love getting further comfirmation that Portland's the "breastfeedingist" city in the US.
We got a warm reception from travellers who happened by and from the Delta employees we spoke with (I made a point of urging them to speak with their bosses about getting a written breastfeeding policy in place, which Delta is currently refusing to do). One woman...I'm guessing a former breastfeeding mom...walk by us chanting, "Yay! Breastfeeding!" I saw a number of people stop and give moms kudos to their advocacy. The director of the Port of Portland approached us about our plans and was quite positive. I had stickers with the breastfeeding icon on them which I was handing out to participants and the press...I offered him some, explaining the purpose of the icon, and he asked for multiple copies. Perhaps PDX will be one of the first airports to adopt the icon!
This was a fantastic, positive action, mamas. Thank you to Amelia Psmythe of the Nursing Mothers Counsel and Marnie Glickman for helping with publicity...we had an amazing press turn-out today thanks to your efforts. Thank you to all who came for being "ambassadors of breastfeeding" and demonstrating, as you do everyday, the beauty and decency of nursing a child. Thank you for sitting in solidarity with Emily Gillette and moms across the country, advocating for yourselves, your children, and mothers and children you've never met.
Now, please write to your Congressional delegates and urge them to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Write to your Oregon state representative and press them to improve our currently mandateless legislation protecting breastfeeding moms who work outside the home and to clarify our nursing in public law so there's no question that moms and children may breastfeed anywhere they are legally authorized to be. If you don't live in Oregon, find out if your state's laws are up to snuff and get "lactive" if they're not. Write to your local paper and get this issue on the editorial pages. Talk with your family and friends during your holiday celebrations about the rally and the importance of supporting and protecting breastfeeding. This is such an important moment--I think it's safe to say that today's was the largest action of its kind so far and Emily's story highlights better than almost any we heard before the need for improved state and national legislation and greater cultural acceptance and support of breastfeeding.
We got a warm reception from travellers who happened by and from the Delta employees we spoke with (I made a point of urging them to speak with their bosses about getting a written breastfeeding policy in place, which Delta is currently refusing to do). One woman...I'm guessing a former breastfeeding mom...walk by us chanting, "Yay! Breastfeeding!" I saw a number of people stop and give moms kudos to their advocacy. The director of the Port of Portland approached us about our plans and was quite positive. I had stickers with the breastfeeding icon on them which I was handing out to participants and the press...I offered him some, explaining the purpose of the icon, and he asked for multiple copies. Perhaps PDX will be one of the first airports to adopt the icon!
This was a fantastic, positive action, mamas. Thank you to Amelia Psmythe of the Nursing Mothers Counsel and Marnie Glickman for helping with publicity...we had an amazing press turn-out today thanks to your efforts. Thank you to all who came for being "ambassadors of breastfeeding" and demonstrating, as you do everyday, the beauty and decency of nursing a child. Thank you for sitting in solidarity with Emily Gillette and moms across the country, advocating for yourselves, your children, and mothers and children you've never met.
Now, please write to your Congressional delegates and urge them to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Write to your Oregon state representative and press them to improve our currently mandateless legislation protecting breastfeeding moms who work outside the home and to clarify our nursing in public law so there's no question that moms and children may breastfeed anywhere they are legally authorized to be. If you don't live in Oregon, find out if your state's laws are up to snuff and get "lactive" if they're not. Write to your local paper and get this issue on the editorial pages. Talk with your family and friends during your holiday celebrations about the rally and the importance of supporting and protecting breastfeeding. This is such an important moment--I think it's safe to say that today's was the largest action of its kind so far and Emily's story highlights better than almost any we heard before the need for improved state and national legislation and greater cultural acceptance and support of breastfeeding.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
America's Not-So Friendly Skies
I've been quiet for the last few months because, well, my son started crawling and life just hasn't slowed down long enough for me to think let alone actually write down any thoughts. We're still really busy, but the story from Vermont has forced me to find some time.
Okay, so if you haven't heard, on October 13th, Emily Gillette, her husband and daughter were removed from an airplane set to make its delayed take-off from Burlington, VT, after Gillette declined a blanket that a flight attendent offered her to cover herself while she breastfed. She was in the window seat in the second-to-last row of a commuter plane, with her husband seated beside her in the aisle row. The only person on the plane who had an issue with this mom breastfeeding is the flight attendent, who told Gillette, "You are offending me." Despite the fact that Gillette explained that the law allowed her to breastfeed on the plane, the attendent had a Delta ticket agent come on board and order the family to leave. According to Gillette, the family did not make a scene, but quietly left, with the mom in tears. Though a news report says the pilot offered to let the family back on the plane, Gillette contends that was not the case and that the family would have jumped at the chance to get back on the plane and on their way to New York.
Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission. Vermont law states a "mother may breastfeed her child in any place of public accommodation in which the mother and child would otherwise have a legal right to be," so thankfully, because the plane was in Vermont when this happened, this particular mom has some recourse. She has an organization behind her to enforce whatever agreement she reaches with the airlines involved. Here in Oregon and in most states, mothers do not have such protection. There is a patchwork of laws of varying degrees of strength, with varying degrees of enforcebility. Oregon law states that a woman may breastfeed in a public place, which sounds alright, but there's a question as to whether that means "public" in terms of publicly owned, like a park or government building, or "public" in terms of "place of public accommodation" which would include restaurants, grocery stores, airplanes... There should be no question. As stated in Vermont law, "breastfeeding a child is an important, basic and natural act of nurture that should be encouraged in the interest of enhancing maternal, child and family health."
As Emily Gillette said herself, this is bigger than the airlines. We need to get beyond the patchwork of protection. Congress needs to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act: amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding mothers from discrimination; provide tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace; provide for a performance standard for breast pumps; and provide families with a tax deduction for breastfeeding equipment.
What you can do now:
Organize or join a nurse-in at the Delta ticket counter of your nearest airport. Let the media know you are doing this in support of Emily Gillette and passage of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. For more information about organizing a nurse-in or to find one that's being organized, join the Yahoo group dedicated connecting breastfeeding advocates for Tuesday's nurse-ins.
Sign the MomRising petition in support of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act.
Write a letter to your local newspaper. Get this issue back on the front burner.
Write a letter to Congresswoman Maloney, urging her to press again for passage of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Write to your own congressional delegates and ask them to support this legislation. Now is the time!
Okay, so if you haven't heard, on October 13th, Emily Gillette, her husband and daughter were removed from an airplane set to make its delayed take-off from Burlington, VT, after Gillette declined a blanket that a flight attendent offered her to cover herself while she breastfed. She was in the window seat in the second-to-last row of a commuter plane, with her husband seated beside her in the aisle row. The only person on the plane who had an issue with this mom breastfeeding is the flight attendent, who told Gillette, "You are offending me." Despite the fact that Gillette explained that the law allowed her to breastfeed on the plane, the attendent had a Delta ticket agent come on board and order the family to leave. According to Gillette, the family did not make a scene, but quietly left, with the mom in tears. Though a news report says the pilot offered to let the family back on the plane, Gillette contends that was not the case and that the family would have jumped at the chance to get back on the plane and on their way to New York.
Gillette has filed a complaint with the Vermont Human Rights Commission. Vermont law states a "mother may breastfeed her child in any place of public accommodation in which the mother and child would otherwise have a legal right to be," so thankfully, because the plane was in Vermont when this happened, this particular mom has some recourse. She has an organization behind her to enforce whatever agreement she reaches with the airlines involved. Here in Oregon and in most states, mothers do not have such protection. There is a patchwork of laws of varying degrees of strength, with varying degrees of enforcebility. Oregon law states that a woman may breastfeed in a public place, which sounds alright, but there's a question as to whether that means "public" in terms of publicly owned, like a park or government building, or "public" in terms of "place of public accommodation" which would include restaurants, grocery stores, airplanes... There should be no question. As stated in Vermont law, "breastfeeding a child is an important, basic and natural act of nurture that should be encouraged in the interest of enhancing maternal, child and family health."
As Emily Gillette said herself, this is bigger than the airlines. We need to get beyond the patchwork of protection. Congress needs to pass the Breastfeeding Promotion Act: amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect breastfeeding mothers from discrimination; provide tax incentives for businesses that establish private lactation areas in the workplace; provide for a performance standard for breast pumps; and provide families with a tax deduction for breastfeeding equipment.
What you can do now:
Organize or join a nurse-in at the Delta ticket counter of your nearest airport. Let the media know you are doing this in support of Emily Gillette and passage of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. For more information about organizing a nurse-in or to find one that's being organized, join the Yahoo group dedicated connecting breastfeeding advocates for Tuesday's nurse-ins.
Sign the MomRising petition in support of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act.
Write a letter to your local newspaper. Get this issue back on the front burner.
Write a letter to Congresswoman Maloney, urging her to press again for passage of the Breastfeeding Promotion Act. Write to your own congressional delegates and ask them to support this legislation. Now is the time!
Thursday, August 17, 2006
All I Want for Christmas...
I just learned about these breastfeeding education videos, produced by a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and mother of seven. They appear to be well researched, informative, and beautiful. Just watching the little clip that's shown on the web site brought me to tears.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Lactivist Manifesto
From a recent comment submitted by Anonymous: "The problem with you nazis is that you marginalise mothers and women who make alternative feeding choices."
Ahhhh...so well put. Nazi. Yes, that'd be me. By day, I'm an ordinary boob-flashing mom-about-town, selfishly dragging my kids to parks, swimming pools, grocery stores, and cafes so that I can freak out the squeamish by nursing topless. By night, I get together with my brigade of nursing-bra-burning Nazis to strategize about how to marginalize formula-feeding moms and win the Mommy War once and for all.
This is the problem with flinging accusations at people whom you've never even met, Anonymous. I am, in fact, quite aware the many reasons why it is so difficult to breastfeed in the United States today and I do not judge harshly mothers who choose to formula feed. There is MUCH work to be done before breastfeeding can possibly become a choice most mothers make without sacrificing themselves and their families in ways that many now feel they cannot.
What work would that be?
Mothers need the option of taking at least six months of paid leave after the birth of a child. Fathers (and, in an alternative universe in which lesbian and gay couples could legally marry and enjoy the privileges heterosexual couples take for granted, the non-lactating mom in a lesbian marriage...my apologies to gay men for seeming to exclude you from this equation, but I haven't worked out in my own head what this alternative universe would look like for you) should also have the option of taking at least a month of paid leave, to support their spouses and care for older children during those first few critical weeks as mom and babe establish their breastfeeding relationship. It would be nice if all employers would accomodate mothers who want to return to work, offering them time and space to pump, but there are so many jobs which cannot reasonably accomodate a breastmilk pumping mother and returning to work can negatively affect a mother's supply. Police officers, flight attendants, and trial lawyers are just a few off-the-top-of-my-head examples of people whose jobs don't just stop 'cause it's time for mom's 30 minute pumping break. Rather, moms should have the option to stay home during those first six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
Americans need to get over their breast fetish. I'm not suggesting that breasts should no longer be considered errogenous zones, but we need to stop fetishizing them to the point where people are uncomfortable with them performing their primary function. Some people find ankles quite sexy, but don't freak out and complain to management when they see a woman in an ankle-exposing outfit at a grocery store. Breasts have a job to do. Let's let them do it in peace.
Lactation consultants should be as on the scene after every baby's birth as pediatricians are today. Every mom should be visited by a lactation consultant at home or in the hospital during the first days after giving birth, see one again later as necessary, and have those visits covered by health insurance.
Breastmilk banks should be as common as blood banks, if need be, and women who donate their milk should at the very least be honored with a nice little lapel sticker that says, "I donated milk today." Just as the Red Cross goes around to college campuses and business parks, seeking blood donors, they should set up pumping stations where lactating mothers can come donate milk. If every lactating mother donated four ounces of milk once a year, would that be enough for the babies whose mothers cannot breastfeed or pump themselves, or die before their babies reach one year of age?
What about the moms who still, given six months off work, visits with the lactation consultant, etc., do not want to breastfeed? Of course, every woman has that option, just as she has the option of smoking cigarettes during pregnancy. Every mother should know, however, that choosing to formula feed actually puts her child's longterm health at greater risk than choosing to smoke during pregnancy. Statistically speaking, smoking during pregnancy, which can lead to low-birth-weight, actually poses fewer risks to a child's health than being fed formula during the first year of life outside the womb. Does anyone say that doctors are trying to make mothers who smoke feel guilty when they advise them to quit smoking?
We need to stop talking about "making" mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding and start talking about the fact that formula is a processed, inferior food. While it contains calories and nutrients, formula is missing much that breastmilk supplies. Of course, no one forces parents to feed their children 100% organic whole foods everyday, but most of us recognize that Ritz Crackers and Fruit Roll-Ups are no substitute for fresh fruits and vegetables. Nutrition experts are not labeled "fruit Nazis" for trying to persuade more people to eat healthier foods. Mothers the world over breastfeed not out of guilt, but because it is the least expensive, most convenient, and healthiest way to feed a baby.
Breastfeeding advocates like myself are not the vanguard of the Mommy War (that would be the mass media). While some of us don't always take the time to understand the unique challenges moms who don't breastfeed, many of us do. Let's stop fighting and start working toward building a culture that supports mothers who want to breastfeed and celebrates them, rather than shames them, for doing the very best for their children, whenever and wherever they are hungry.
Ahhhh...so well put. Nazi. Yes, that'd be me. By day, I'm an ordinary boob-flashing mom-about-town, selfishly dragging my kids to parks, swimming pools, grocery stores, and cafes so that I can freak out the squeamish by nursing topless. By night, I get together with my brigade of nursing-bra-burning Nazis to strategize about how to marginalize formula-feeding moms and win the Mommy War once and for all.
This is the problem with flinging accusations at people whom you've never even met, Anonymous. I am, in fact, quite aware the many reasons why it is so difficult to breastfeed in the United States today and I do not judge harshly mothers who choose to formula feed. There is MUCH work to be done before breastfeeding can possibly become a choice most mothers make without sacrificing themselves and their families in ways that many now feel they cannot.
What work would that be?
Mothers need the option of taking at least six months of paid leave after the birth of a child. Fathers (and, in an alternative universe in which lesbian and gay couples could legally marry and enjoy the privileges heterosexual couples take for granted, the non-lactating mom in a lesbian marriage...my apologies to gay men for seeming to exclude you from this equation, but I haven't worked out in my own head what this alternative universe would look like for you) should also have the option of taking at least a month of paid leave, to support their spouses and care for older children during those first few critical weeks as mom and babe establish their breastfeeding relationship. It would be nice if all employers would accomodate mothers who want to return to work, offering them time and space to pump, but there are so many jobs which cannot reasonably accomodate a breastmilk pumping mother and returning to work can negatively affect a mother's supply. Police officers, flight attendants, and trial lawyers are just a few off-the-top-of-my-head examples of people whose jobs don't just stop 'cause it's time for mom's 30 minute pumping break. Rather, moms should have the option to stay home during those first six months of exclusive breastfeeding.
Americans need to get over their breast fetish. I'm not suggesting that breasts should no longer be considered errogenous zones, but we need to stop fetishizing them to the point where people are uncomfortable with them performing their primary function. Some people find ankles quite sexy, but don't freak out and complain to management when they see a woman in an ankle-exposing outfit at a grocery store. Breasts have a job to do. Let's let them do it in peace.
Lactation consultants should be as on the scene after every baby's birth as pediatricians are today. Every mom should be visited by a lactation consultant at home or in the hospital during the first days after giving birth, see one again later as necessary, and have those visits covered by health insurance.
Breastmilk banks should be as common as blood banks, if need be, and women who donate their milk should at the very least be honored with a nice little lapel sticker that says, "I donated milk today." Just as the Red Cross goes around to college campuses and business parks, seeking blood donors, they should set up pumping stations where lactating mothers can come donate milk. If every lactating mother donated four ounces of milk once a year, would that be enough for the babies whose mothers cannot breastfeed or pump themselves, or die before their babies reach one year of age?
What about the moms who still, given six months off work, visits with the lactation consultant, etc., do not want to breastfeed? Of course, every woman has that option, just as she has the option of smoking cigarettes during pregnancy. Every mother should know, however, that choosing to formula feed actually puts her child's longterm health at greater risk than choosing to smoke during pregnancy. Statistically speaking, smoking during pregnancy, which can lead to low-birth-weight, actually poses fewer risks to a child's health than being fed formula during the first year of life outside the womb. Does anyone say that doctors are trying to make mothers who smoke feel guilty when they advise them to quit smoking?
We need to stop talking about "making" mothers feel guilty about not breastfeeding and start talking about the fact that formula is a processed, inferior food. While it contains calories and nutrients, formula is missing much that breastmilk supplies. Of course, no one forces parents to feed their children 100% organic whole foods everyday, but most of us recognize that Ritz Crackers and Fruit Roll-Ups are no substitute for fresh fruits and vegetables. Nutrition experts are not labeled "fruit Nazis" for trying to persuade more people to eat healthier foods. Mothers the world over breastfeed not out of guilt, but because it is the least expensive, most convenient, and healthiest way to feed a baby.
Breastfeeding advocates like myself are not the vanguard of the Mommy War (that would be the mass media). While some of us don't always take the time to understand the unique challenges moms who don't breastfeed, many of us do. Let's stop fighting and start working toward building a culture that supports mothers who want to breastfeed and celebrates them, rather than shames them, for doing the very best for their children, whenever and wherever they are hungry.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Dear Anonymous
I will not allow anymore comments on this blog that demean nursing mothers, their babies who deserve to eat whenever and wherever they are hungry, or the wholesome beauty that is breastfeeding. Respectful disagreement is welcome, however profanity, personal attacks, and red herring arguments will not be published here. Go somewhere else and spew your filth.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Article in the Oregonian
MomMA co-founder Chrissy and I appear in a story in yesterday's Oregonian about the "breastfeeding landscape" in Portland.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
On the Selfishness of Mothers Who NIP
When I was nursing my daughter three years ago, it never occurred to me that I should breastfeed discreetly for anyone's comfort but my own--I nurse as discreetly as I can in public because I prefer not to expose my breasts to strangers. Sometimes, though, when nursing a fussy or distracted baby, even the modest mama finds herself briefly exposed. I grew up with the understanding that it was rude to stare at any woman's breasts and assumed most strangers, polite ones anyway, would do their best to avert their eyes at such critical moments.
I also was taught that I am responsible for my feelings and my reactions to whatever I encounter in the world around me. I don't expect others to put my needs above theirs or those of their dependents. Growing up, I learned that babies often require us to put their needs above our own...even babies who are not ours, because parents deserve our support as they raise the next generation.
If the sight of a mother nourishing her child makes you uncomfortable, avert your eyes. It is the height of self-absorption to demand that busy mothers, some with more than just one child with them as they go about their daily lives, concern themselves with whatever screwed up ideas you have about the wholesome, nourishing act of breastfeeding. If you unwittingly catch a glimpse of a woman's breast while she nurses her child and that makes you uncomfortable, take the time you would've spent complaining to a manager or venting on my blog and look inside yourselves. Why do you believe that your needs supersede those of a baby? What is it about breastfeeding that makes you so uncomfortable? Why do you pervert a something as innocent as a mother feeding her hungry baby?
Think about it.
Nursing Mothers Counsel WBW Awards Luncheon
Today the Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon hosted a luncheon to celebrate our state as a leader in breastfeeding promotion and highlight what is left to be done to improve the long and short term health of Oregonians by increasing breastfeeding rates. Awards to important contributors to Oregon’s breastfeeding promotion efforts were presented at the luncheon as well. I was honored at the luncheon as an award recipient, but rather than just toot my own horn, I want to tell you about the work all the other award recipients have done to support, protect, and promote breastfeeding in Oregon this year as well. What a list of accomplishments:
Media Matters for Breastfeeding Mothers Award
KATU News featured three recent breastfeeding stories by Shellie Bailey-Shah and further supported breastfeeding through a morning segment after the launch of the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign.
KGW News supported breastfeeding by highlighting the roll of breastfeeding support in Fit Pregnany Magazine's survey results which declared Portland the #1 city to have a baby.
Breastfeeding Champion Award
Oregon State Nutrition and Health Screening Program for Women, Infant and Children (WIC) was commended for its long-term, multi-faceted approach to breastfeeding support, promotion and protection. Oregon State WIC was among the first in the nation to use food dollars to purchase and distribute breastpumps instead of infant formula, and to send Nutrition Leads to Lactation Educator training.
Breastfeeding Mother Friendly Employer Award
Oregon Health Science University has the distinction of being the largest employer in the state to earn a designation as a DHS Breastfeeding Mother-Friendly Employer.
New Seasons Market has the distinction of being the first grocery store and the first chain to earn the DHS Breastfeeding Mother-Friendly Employer designation. The company's policy is exemplary and sets a high bar for multiplicity at several retail sites. The company also has a commitment to supporting breastfeeding mothers in their stores.
Legislative Legacy Awards
There are three women who share principal responsibility for Oregon's legislative legacy in breastfeeding support and protection: Martha Johnson, RN, IBCLC; Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC; and NMC volunteer lobbyist, Diane Garrett. Martha and Dixie are the co-authors of many successive versions of workplace accommodation legislation. They have brought drafts of the bill before the legislature since 1999. Through the efforts of Diane, the Oregon State Legislature passed SB 618, a bill encouraging employers to accommodate breastfeeding employees.
The Voice for the Mothers Award
I was incredibly honored to accept this Nursing Mothers Counsel award, which reads:
Media Matters for Breastfeeding Mothers Award
KATU News featured three recent breastfeeding stories by Shellie Bailey-Shah and further supported breastfeeding through a morning segment after the launch of the National Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign.
KGW News supported breastfeeding by highlighting the roll of breastfeeding support in Fit Pregnany Magazine's survey results which declared Portland the #1 city to have a baby.
Breastfeeding Champion Award
Oregon State Nutrition and Health Screening Program for Women, Infant and Children (WIC) was commended for its long-term, multi-faceted approach to breastfeeding support, promotion and protection. Oregon State WIC was among the first in the nation to use food dollars to purchase and distribute breastpumps instead of infant formula, and to send Nutrition Leads to Lactation Educator training.
Breastfeeding Mother Friendly Employer Award
Oregon Health Science University has the distinction of being the largest employer in the state to earn a designation as a DHS Breastfeeding Mother-Friendly Employer.
New Seasons Market has the distinction of being the first grocery store and the first chain to earn the DHS Breastfeeding Mother-Friendly Employer designation. The company's policy is exemplary and sets a high bar for multiplicity at several retail sites. The company also has a commitment to supporting breastfeeding mothers in their stores.
Legislative Legacy Awards
There are three women who share principal responsibility for Oregon's legislative legacy in breastfeeding support and protection: Martha Johnson, RN, IBCLC; Dixie Whetsell, MS, IBCLC; and NMC volunteer lobbyist, Diane Garrett. Martha and Dixie are the co-authors of many successive versions of workplace accommodation legislation. They have brought drafts of the bill before the legislature since 1999. Through the efforts of Diane, the Oregon State Legislature passed SB 618, a bill encouraging employers to accommodate breastfeeding employees.
The Voice for the Mothers Award
I was incredibly honored to accept this Nursing Mothers Counsel award, which reads:
In Celebration of World Breastfeeding Week, August 2006, Nursing Mothers Counsel of Oregon presents the Voice for Mothers award to Chris Musser, for transforming a personally challenging situation into a catalyst for empowerment, from one mother to others. Though you dubbed yourself the "Reluctant Lactivist," you quickly became a highly effective one, launching Mom's Milk Anywhere for the support and protection of breastfeeding in public as SB 744 ensures.There are so many people who deserve credit for enabling me to stand up for myself, my children, and mothers and children everywhere who want to nurse in peace. I don't know what I would have done without my brilliant and impassioned friend Chrissy Gardiner, whose support, outrage, and ideas have fueled me throughout this experience. Creating a social support group for nursing moms was Chrissy's idea...I honestly don't think that big on my own. Chrissy and my other NE Knitting Mom friends, especially Alenna, Brittney, and Sally, spent many Monday evenings listening, advising, and encouraging me as I went from feeling humiliated and ashamed to empowered and activated. They are the core organizers of MomMA. While I was still deciding whether or not to do anything about my humiliating experience at Fred Meyer, I called the Nursing Mothers Counsel help line and received the encouragement and direction I needed to stand up for myself and be a voice for mothers who have suffered in silence after being harassed for nursing in public. I also want to thank my husband Mike for his continued and enthusiastic support. He's a devoted and wonderful husband and father who has helped me stay true to myself and my ideals as I navigated through an exciting and challenging time. Finally, I want to say how much I appreciate all of you who have written to me with support and encouragement. Reading your kind words, knowing that so many people out their get it and appreciate the importance of celebrating, not humiliating, mothers who nurse in public, has helped keep me going even when the negative, uninformed commentary of others dragged me down. Thank you. Please keep up the good work. It's such a boost.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
MomMA on KATU
Mom's Milk Anywhere held its first gathering of World Breastfeeding Week at K&F Coffeehouse this morning and KATU-News was there. I'm thrilled to see this issue getting so much press coverage this week (the Oregonian plans to run stories in both its Living and Business sections as well) and hope that it will help persuade more people that breastfeeding in public is a perfectly normal and decent thing to do!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Introducing...MomMA!
Well, my friends and I have been very busy the last few weeks, making preparations for World Breastfeeding Week. We have renamed our group and are now Mom's Milk Anywhere, or MomMA. We have a web site and we have a Cafe Press site selling the cleverest breastfeeding-advocacy wear you've ever seen. We have great plans in place for World Breastfeeding Week. Check it out! Note also that Chrissy and I will be featured in the Oregonian in an article on the "breastfeeding landscape in Portland," during WBW. Very exciting stuff!
I would never have imagined that my humiliating experience would lead to something as wonderfully positive, creative, and supportive as MomMA. I am just thrilled to bits.
I would never have imagined that my humiliating experience would lead to something as wonderfully positive, creative, and supportive as MomMA. I am just thrilled to bits.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Food for thought for those who find breastfeeding indecent
Recently Timmi Toler of the Daily News in Jacksonwille wrote a column with some food for thought for breastfeeding moms. She claims that nursing in public is shocking and makes people uncomfortable, so mothers would do better to breastfeed their children in closets or restrooms rather than in public.
Much of the controversy surrounding nursing in public is about standards of decency, which are actually quite flexible, changing with both time and place. Not all humans, as Toler claims, "freak out" when they see a mother nursing. All over the world, women breastfeed in public and the people around them don't freak out and suggest they find a toilet. People here in the US freak out not because they are human, but because they have been taught that there's something indecent, even disgusting about breast exposure and babies suckling. We live in a hypersexualized culture in which even non-sexual acts have become sexualized and live a Puritanical legacy that makes some of us so squeamish about sexuality that we blame perfectly decent mothers of doing something nasty when feeding their children. Just a hundred years ago, a decent woman wouldn't have exposed her ankle in public. Today, the idea seems absolutely ludicrous. Standards of decency can change and it is long past time for the idea that there's something indecent about breasts exposed in the act of nourishing children to change.
While I couldn't agree more with Toler that breastfeeding can be a special moment with one's baby, it's also just the act of feeding a baby. I do it a dozen or more times a day. Just because I don't find a closet or restroom to nurse doesn't mean that I haven't adjusted my life to accommodate the needs of my children. In so many respects, my life revolves around my children, and indeed much of the time we are out in public, it is in service of their needs for socialization, exercise, food, clothing, medical care, and so forth. Since I breastfeed my son on demand, as all the experts say is best for him, there are many times during the week that he enjoys his meals in public. Because I have learned that he's easily distracted, I do find quiet places for him to nurse when I can, but I certainly don't feed him while sitting on a toilet or hiding in a closet. I honestly feel sorry for Toler and her children that she felt she needed to hide when breastfeeding. How very sad for them all.
I'm completely confused about this statement in Toler's column: "These folks are also entitled to certain rights when they visit the mall and seeing an exposed breast isn’t one of them." Okay, the sentence itself doesn't make any sense, but ignoring the lack of editorial oversight at the Daily News, what right is she talking about exactly and where is it described in the US or any state Constitution, other statute, or court ruling? Because if we're talking about this issue in terms of rights, the fact is that most states in the Union have statutes that specifically protect the rights of mothers to nurse in public, exempting them from whatever indecency laws might otherwise apply to public breast exposure. I believe the 5th circuit court in California said it best:
States shouldn't interfere with mothers decisions about breastfeeding and neither should folks like Timmi Toler. Breastfeeding is such an important public health issue, it is appalling to me that people continue to say on the one hand that they support breastfeeding, but on the other shame mothers and suggest they hide themselves in closets when they feed their babies. So many babies in the United States spend critical developmental periods being sick thanks to formula that they cannot easily digest. So many of them never reach their full potential as adults because their IQs are lower than they would have been had they been breastfed. So many health dollars are spent on people with pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, staphylococcal infections, influenza, ear infections, German measles, Crohn's disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Hodgkins disease, leukemia, osteoporosis, allergies, and asthma, who may never have become ill if they'd been breastfed. So many babies die of SIDS who may have lived had they been kept close to mom at night and breastfed. So many families whose budgets are already stretched would have a $100 or more a month to spend on food, clothing, and rent if they didn't feed their babies formula. So many of our world's finite natural resources would not be wasted on making and washing bottles and artifical nipples if more mothers breastfed. So many hardworking mothers and fathers could spend more quality time with their children, rather than mixing formula and sterilizing bottles, if their babies were breastfed. We need to do so much more to encourage mothers to breastfeed. Telling them to stay in the closet, literally, can be nothing but discouraging.
Shame on you Timmi Toler. You're the one who desecrates breastfeeding by continuing to espouse the notion that there is something indecent about it, not those of us who feed our babies when they're hungry, wherever we happen to be. We who nurse in public are are not making an "in your face" point, we're just taking care of our children. Stop trying to shame us and leave us in peace.
Much of the controversy surrounding nursing in public is about standards of decency, which are actually quite flexible, changing with both time and place. Not all humans, as Toler claims, "freak out" when they see a mother nursing. All over the world, women breastfeed in public and the people around them don't freak out and suggest they find a toilet. People here in the US freak out not because they are human, but because they have been taught that there's something indecent, even disgusting about breast exposure and babies suckling. We live in a hypersexualized culture in which even non-sexual acts have become sexualized and live a Puritanical legacy that makes some of us so squeamish about sexuality that we blame perfectly decent mothers of doing something nasty when feeding their children. Just a hundred years ago, a decent woman wouldn't have exposed her ankle in public. Today, the idea seems absolutely ludicrous. Standards of decency can change and it is long past time for the idea that there's something indecent about breasts exposed in the act of nourishing children to change.
While I couldn't agree more with Toler that breastfeeding can be a special moment with one's baby, it's also just the act of feeding a baby. I do it a dozen or more times a day. Just because I don't find a closet or restroom to nurse doesn't mean that I haven't adjusted my life to accommodate the needs of my children. In so many respects, my life revolves around my children, and indeed much of the time we are out in public, it is in service of their needs for socialization, exercise, food, clothing, medical care, and so forth. Since I breastfeed my son on demand, as all the experts say is best for him, there are many times during the week that he enjoys his meals in public. Because I have learned that he's easily distracted, I do find quiet places for him to nurse when I can, but I certainly don't feed him while sitting on a toilet or hiding in a closet. I honestly feel sorry for Toler and her children that she felt she needed to hide when breastfeeding. How very sad for them all.
I'm completely confused about this statement in Toler's column: "These folks are also entitled to certain rights when they visit the mall and seeing an exposed breast isn’t one of them." Okay, the sentence itself doesn't make any sense, but ignoring the lack of editorial oversight at the Daily News, what right is she talking about exactly and where is it described in the US or any state Constitution, other statute, or court ruling? Because if we're talking about this issue in terms of rights, the fact is that most states in the Union have statutes that specifically protect the rights of mothers to nurse in public, exempting them from whatever indecency laws might otherwise apply to public breast exposure. I believe the 5th circuit court in California said it best:
Nourishment is necessary to maintain the child's life, and the parent may choose to believe that breastfeeding will enhance the child's psychological as well as physical health. In light of the spectrum of interests that the Supreme Court has held specially protected we conclude that the Constitution protects from excessive state interference a woman's decision respecting breastfeeding her child. (650 F.2d at 787)
States shouldn't interfere with mothers decisions about breastfeeding and neither should folks like Timmi Toler. Breastfeeding is such an important public health issue, it is appalling to me that people continue to say on the one hand that they support breastfeeding, but on the other shame mothers and suggest they hide themselves in closets when they feed their babies. So many babies in the United States spend critical developmental periods being sick thanks to formula that they cannot easily digest. So many of them never reach their full potential as adults because their IQs are lower than they would have been had they been breastfed. So many health dollars are spent on people with pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, staphylococcal infections, influenza, ear infections, German measles, Crohn's disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Hodgkins disease, leukemia, osteoporosis, allergies, and asthma, who may never have become ill if they'd been breastfed. So many babies die of SIDS who may have lived had they been kept close to mom at night and breastfed. So many families whose budgets are already stretched would have a $100 or more a month to spend on food, clothing, and rent if they didn't feed their babies formula. So many of our world's finite natural resources would not be wasted on making and washing bottles and artifical nipples if more mothers breastfed. So many hardworking mothers and fathers could spend more quality time with their children, rather than mixing formula and sterilizing bottles, if their babies were breastfed. We need to do so much more to encourage mothers to breastfeed. Telling them to stay in the closet, literally, can be nothing but discouraging.
Shame on you Timmi Toler. You're the one who desecrates breastfeeding by continuing to espouse the notion that there is something indecent about it, not those of us who feed our babies when they're hungry, wherever we happen to be. We who nurse in public are are not making an "in your face" point, we're just taking care of our children. Stop trying to shame us and leave us in peace.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Victoria's Secret Nurse-In!
What is up with Victoria's Secret employees? In December last year, a South Carolina mom was told that breastfeeding in the store was against company policy and was advised to go to a public restroom. We know the story...company policy in fact does allow moms to breastfeed in their stores...just a couple bad apples...apology performed by PR flack...blah blah blah. Then last week, within two days, at a store in Racine, Wisconsin, and another in Boston, two different moms were told to take their hungry babies to the restroom to eat by Victoria's Secret employees. The irony of this happening, repeatedly, at a store that sells all manner of bras (except nursing bras) is not lost on me, but I don't have time to go into the implications of all that right now.
ANYWAY...these two women urge nursing moms to join them in a nurse-in at Victoria's Secret stores nationwide on July 1 at 1 pm, to protest not only this particular company's poorly implemented policy, but to demand state and federal protection of babies' right to nurse when they're hungry, wherever they may be. Here in Portland, moms will be nursing at the Lloyd Center, Clackamas Town Center, Washington Square, and Tanasbourne Victoria's Secret stores. (We're expecting press coverage at Clackamas Town Center.) Join them. If you're not a nursing mom or can't make a nurse-in, but still want to help, go to ProMoM and use their nifty email thingamabob to send a note to Victoria's Secret/Limited Brands.
Nurse on, mamas!
ANYWAY...these two women urge nursing moms to join them in a nurse-in at Victoria's Secret stores nationwide on July 1 at 1 pm, to protest not only this particular company's poorly implemented policy, but to demand state and federal protection of babies' right to nurse when they're hungry, wherever they may be. Here in Portland, moms will be nursing at the Lloyd Center, Clackamas Town Center, Washington Square, and Tanasbourne Victoria's Secret stores. (We're expecting press coverage at Clackamas Town Center.) Join them. If you're not a nursing mom or can't make a nurse-in, but still want to help, go to ProMoM and use their nifty email thingamabob to send a note to Victoria's Secret/Limited Brands.
Nurse on, mamas!
Thursday, June 15, 2006
It's About Babies, Not Boobies
So, it's been a while...life with two young children gives me little time to complete a thought, let alone write one down. I still don't have much time, but wanted to share the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Breastfeeding Campaign Ad materials. I'm not sure what I think about the, um, titillating nature of the print ads. Part of me loves it, part of me thinks it will just add to people's perception that breastfeeding is about boobies, not babies.
Nippers Unite! has had a couple business meetings and we are beginning to plan our events for World Breastfeeding Week in August. If you would like to keep informed about our plans, please join our Yahoo group.
Nippers Unite! has had a couple business meetings and we are beginning to plan our events for World Breastfeeding Week in August. If you would like to keep informed about our plans, please join our Yahoo group.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Letter to Barb
Here's letter I wrote to an acquaintance recently, who questioned my decision to nurse Luc at Fred Meyers.
Dear Barb,
I have to say I'm somewhat taken aback that you would not be supportive of a mother's right to nurse in public. You have always seemed to be such an open minded, tolerant, "live and let live" sort of person, so it surprises me that you wouldn't be okay with mothers doing what they need to do to take care of their babies, wherever and whenever they need to, or that you would secondguess my actions about how I take care of my children. I hope you don't mind me addressing your comments below point-by-point. I believe that you have good intentions and I hope you believe that I do too. If I seem a bit strident or sensitive, well, this is a very important issue to me and I was publicly humiliated in a store where I shop frequently and even though in the end I "won," I'm still a bit tender from the experience.
You say, "It is not the vision of a baby feeding that anyone objects to." Here are some comments from visitors to my blog:
"People come to the store to shop, not to see a woman breastfeeding her baby."
"I'm female, but I'm getting a little sick of the ragin' booby ladies wanting to flap them tatters everywhere." Much more of the same can be found all over the Internet. Here's what Barbara Walters had to say about seeing a mother nurse her baby on a plane during takeoff (which, by the way, is vitally important for babies as their eardrums can be damaged if they do not suck during takeoffs and landings). With regard to "covering" babies while breastfeeding, many babies refuse to be covered while they eat and some people have expressed that they are even bothered by the sight of a covered baby breastfeeding. It is impossible to make everyone happy and comfortable, and really, a mother's first priority is the happiness and comfort of her baby, not grown ups who are perfectly capable of looking away or moving away.
You say you would "vote" for breastfeeding to happen in a more private surrounding. Fortunately for nursing mothers and their babies, Oregon law codifies and the Supreme Court supports nursing in public, so your vote doesn't really count. Here are the relevant citations:
1999 Ore. ALS 306; 1999 Ore. Laws 306; 1999 Ore. SB 744:
A woman may breastfeed her child in a public place.
As stated by the U.S. Supreme Court, “Nourishment is necessary to maintain the child’s life, and the parent may choose to believe that breastfeeding will enhance the child’s psychological as well as physical health. In light of the spectrum of interests that the Supreme Court has held specially protected we conclude that the Constitution protects from excessive state interference a woman’s decision respecting breastfeeding her child.” 650 F.2d at 787.
You suggest that I couldn have taken a "quick walk to the car" when my baby needed to nurse. I would like to tell you about something that happened just two days ago that reveals how danergous such a suggestion is. I was walking through the WinCo parking lot with Luc in one arm and holding Annabel's hand with the other, when I heard a car start. I couldn't see which car it was, and cautiously proceeded with my children. Turns out it was a car hidden from me by an SUV parked beside it and the driver had no idea that we were about to walk behind her car when she pulled out. Had I been making that "quick walk" you suggest, with Luc crying in one arm and Annabel yanking on the other (as she does at times, especially if we go somewhere and then suddenly leave), I may not have heard that engine start and an actual tragedy might have occurred rather than a bit of embarrassment, offense, or disgust on the part of the people who took the time to complain to a manager about me feeding my baby, rather than just avert their eyes from the scene.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the "controversial manner in which the event took place," so I can't really address that point. I can assure you that I didn't nurse my son in Fred Meyers in an effort to create a controversy, I nursed him there because that's where we were when he began to cry frantically and I determined that he was hungry. (For what it's worth, I did nurse Luc less than 30 minutes before we arrived at the store.)
Could there been no other more private place? Again, it's my right to nurse in public, my baby's right to eat when he needs to, so why should I have scurried around the store, finding some private place, with my bawling baby and flighty toddler when there was a bench, provided for the comfort of all Fred Meyers customers, right where we were?
Did the confrontation with the manager benefit Annabelle in any manner?? I did not confront the manager, he confronted me. I was just minding my own business and reminded the manager of Oregon law when he confronted me. And yes, I do believe that standing up for Luc's right to eat when he needs to, without burdensome restrictions for the comfort of adults who can avert their eyes or move away, does benefit Annabel. I hope that by the time she's a grown women, thanks to mothers like me taking a stand, breastfeeding in public will be as controversial as being pregnant in public (there was a time when it was considered immodest for a women to be obviously pregnant in public).
This does not even begin to imply that private places should be sought out in all cases...but Fred Meyer's?? What of Fred Meyers? What makes it so special? It's where we were. It's where a LOT of mothers have to go, sometimes with their babies who may need to eat while there. When the public affairs flack at Fred Meyers called to apologize on behalf of the company, she assured me that they would be correcting their employees about the law and the company's policy because, and I quote, "Mothers are our core customers and we want them to feel welcome to take care of their babies in our stores."
Breastmilk is the very best food for babies and respectable medical organizations, including the American Pediatric Association, the World Health Organization, the American Diabetes Association, encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first year of life and ideally until the age of two. Sadly, public perception is one of the greatest obstacles to breastfeeding in the United States. One of the reasons I took a stand was not just because I was wrongfully humilitated. I knew I would eventually bounce back. I'm strongly committed to breastfeeding and I also have a fantastic support network of current and former nursing mothers, who shared their sympathy and outrage when they heard what happened to me. Unfortunately, most mothers do not have such support and may have never nursed in public again or worse, given up breastfeeding altogether, had they been publicly shamed as I was.
Anyway, thank you for sharing your opinion with me and if you've read this far, thank you for bothering. You are actually the only person I know who has not given me her wholehearted support for my efforts and I appreciate your honesty and the opportunity, perhaps, to explain to you why supporting mothers who breastfeed in public is important. Fred Meyers, thankfully, has admitted its managers were wrong and has publicly promised to re-educate all of its employees about the law. I am proud that I made that happen by standing up for myself, my son, and nursing mothers and babies everywhere. I wish, as someone I consider a friend, that you could be proud of me too.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Jimmy Kimmel on Baba Wawa
I don't watch much television and never saw the comments Barbara Walters made on The View last year about being "uncomfortable" seeing a mother breastfeed her baby on an airplane. Couple days ago, I stumbled across this amazing clip. Jimmy Kimmel is officially my new hero.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Why I Love People With Gray Hair
Caitlin just posted this story as a comment and it's such a lovely one that I wanted to put it up here so others would be sure to read it.
Some people have commented here that older people are the ones who complain about mothers nursing in public, but in my experience, older people are more understanding, helpful, and patient than others when I'm out with my kids and are the most likely to say something positive about me breastfeeding. My daughter has always been the kind of kid who makes an effort to get people around her smile, and even as a baby, she seemed to know that anyone with gray hair was an easy mark. She would get the attention of some grandma or grandpa while we waited in check out lines and without fail, they would respond and strike up a conversation with her and me. Recently, while nursing my son at Tryon Creek Park's nature center during the Trillium Festival, an older gentleman who was sitting next to us struck up a conversation with me about how the Hebrew name for God has been incorrectly translated into English. "It should be literally translated as 'god with the nurturing breasts'." He went on to tell me that he sees lots of mothers nursing at his church these days and that he thinks it's a wonderful thing. I think that older people supporting nursing mothers is a wonderful thing. (Oh, and if anyone can point me to more info about this "god with the nururing breasts" thing, I'd be much obliged.)
When my daughter was three weeks old and I waited for my husband to pick me up from the dentist, she decided she needed to nurse. This was a small conservative Louisiana town (before Louisiana passed its pro-nursing law), and there was a little old lady (LOL) staring at me from a few chairs away. I threw a blanket over my whimpering daughter and tried to get her latched on. As a new mom, I found a good latch hard to manage even when I could see, and manipulating a full breast and a starving newborn under a blanket was not a skill I could manage. Baby began to scream. LOL stared. I frantically tried to manipulate my nipple into baby's mouth. Baby shrieked and flailed under the heat and restrictiveness of the blanket. I was about to burst into tears myself when LOL leaned over and said, "I breastfed all 14 of my children." I discarded the blanket, baby nursed contentedly, and LOL and I had a lovely chat. May all you nursing moms be blessed with LOLs, and may everyone let you (or your kids' dad when he shops with the little ones) cut in the checkoutline whenever need be.
Some people have commented here that older people are the ones who complain about mothers nursing in public, but in my experience, older people are more understanding, helpful, and patient than others when I'm out with my kids and are the most likely to say something positive about me breastfeeding. My daughter has always been the kind of kid who makes an effort to get people around her smile, and even as a baby, she seemed to know that anyone with gray hair was an easy mark. She would get the attention of some grandma or grandpa while we waited in check out lines and without fail, they would respond and strike up a conversation with her and me. Recently, while nursing my son at Tryon Creek Park's nature center during the Trillium Festival, an older gentleman who was sitting next to us struck up a conversation with me about how the Hebrew name for God has been incorrectly translated into English. "It should be literally translated as 'god with the nurturing breasts'." He went on to tell me that he sees lots of mothers nursing at his church these days and that he thinks it's a wonderful thing. I think that older people supporting nursing mothers is a wonderful thing. (Oh, and if anyone can point me to more info about this "god with the nururing breasts" thing, I'd be much obliged.)
Plan Your Nurse Out Now!
World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) is still a few months away, but it's not too soon to start planning a nurse out in your community. Will there be one in Portland, you ask? You betcha! Stay tuned for details.
Nippers Unite! Planning Meeting This Saturday
Our new group is having a lively email discussion and readying for our first planning meeting at Chrissy's house this Saturday. I'm thrilled to have something so positive come out of what started out as a humiliating, defeating experience. While showering this morning, I was thinking about that afternoon, remembering how I felt like it was me and my baby against the world while I sat there listening to that manager tell me people were offended by my efforts to feed my son. I stood in the shower and bawled, the first time I've cried over any of this since it happened. It felt so awful to be shamed by members of my community for lacking sufficient breastfeeding finesse. I wish no other mom would have to experience that, though I'm sure more will. My friend Sierra wrote to me today that "parents of young children should be given a break by everyone else." She's right. Damn we're doing the hardest job of our lives...every single mom I've talked with says that being a mother is the most challenging thing she's ever done. It's such important work, too, though so completely undervalued in our society.
I don't know any mothers who want special accommodations, but gosh it would be nice to get bit of understanding when our kids aren't being the "seen but not heard" creatures you expect them to be, instead of dirty looks and tsk-tsks. I have fantasized about some nice old lady walking up to me that day at Fred Meyer and saying, "Sweetie, it looks like you could use an extra pair of hands. Can I help? I'll entertain your little girl for a few minutes while you take care of your baby." Would that have been so hard? Would it have taken more effort than tracking down the store manager to complain about how offended you were at the sight of the breast of a mother trying desperately to calm and feed her crying baby?
It never occurred to me when I was breastfeeding my daughter that I should be discreet for anyone else's comfort but hers and mine. I would find a quiet spot so she wouldn't be distracted and keep myself covered because I felt uncomfortable, vulnerable, when my breasts were exposed in front of strangers. I truly had no idea that people actually found the sight of a mother breastfeeding her baby disgusting. I'm still having trouble getting my head around the idea. To me, it's one of the most beautiful sights in the world. I hope that by the time my daughter has children, that we will be blessed to see it much more often.
I don't know any mothers who want special accommodations, but gosh it would be nice to get bit of understanding when our kids aren't being the "seen but not heard" creatures you expect them to be, instead of dirty looks and tsk-tsks. I have fantasized about some nice old lady walking up to me that day at Fred Meyer and saying, "Sweetie, it looks like you could use an extra pair of hands. Can I help? I'll entertain your little girl for a few minutes while you take care of your baby." Would that have been so hard? Would it have taken more effort than tracking down the store manager to complain about how offended you were at the sight of the breast of a mother trying desperately to calm and feed her crying baby?
It never occurred to me when I was breastfeeding my daughter that I should be discreet for anyone else's comfort but hers and mine. I would find a quiet spot so she wouldn't be distracted and keep myself covered because I felt uncomfortable, vulnerable, when my breasts were exposed in front of strangers. I truly had no idea that people actually found the sight of a mother breastfeeding her baby disgusting. I'm still having trouble getting my head around the idea. To me, it's one of the most beautiful sights in the world. I hope that by the time my daughter has children, that we will be blessed to see it much more often.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Thanks, Mean and Ignorant People!
If it weren't for you and your unbelievably uninformed, self-absorbed comments about nursing mothers here on this blog and others, talk radio, and the evening news, we probably wouldn't have gotten so damn fired up about the need to support mothers who choose to nurse in public. As of this morning, 40 people have asked to join Nippers Unite. We'll have our first planning meeting in private, but after that, expect to see us out there "making a point" and helping one another NIP with confidence on a regular basis. Did you actually believe you'd shame us into the closet?
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