There was an article this week in the _Chicago Tribune_ about breastfeeding rights. I have heard about people who fight for their right to nurse in public. I have (thankfully) never encountered such a confrontation myself — but I’m outraged on behalf of those who have been hassled!
(The article, “Moms have the right, but public still frowns”:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0608070193aug07,1,933551.story, requires registration (albeit free) at the Tribune site.)
p{color:gray}. Photo: Yes, Ann is brazenly nursing Lucy here, right on a public Chicago beach.
Allison recently “pointed out”:/news/2006/babywearing/#comment-577 the recent controversy about the nursing picture on the cover of a recent issue of _BabyTalk_ magazine. I guess I remember feeling a bit shy around nursing moms (before I became one), but I never felt *offended* by public breastfeeding. And now that I’m on the Nursing Mamas team, I try to encourage people not to worry if they get a glimpse of my breast here and there. My body feels much more functional than it ever did before.
I’m especially saddened by statistics that indicate that race and class are factors in breastfeeding success. This isn’t totally surprising, as nursing requires a lot of time and support — even though it is “free.” Wouldn’t it be great to live in a place that is so supportive of breastfeeding that low-income kids could get all the health benefits it provides? It is terrific to see legislation being passed that helps mothers overcome obstacles to breastfeeding.
It is pretty interesting that something as personal as how you feed your infant can launch you into public debate!
p{color:gray}. Photo: “What are you lookin’ at? No boobs here!”
It is really a sad state of affairs. I’ve read tons of articles lately about new discoveries they’ve made about the benefits of breasfeeding including one that showed that breastfed babies were less anxious children (they did a study of 10 year olds who’s parents were undergoing divorce and compared anxiety levels in those who were breastfed vs. those who were bottle-fed). So on the one hand you have all this health (both emotional and physical) information that clearly shows breastfeeding to be better and on the other you get statistics like this one:
“The evidence of public discomfort isn’t just anecdotal. In a survey published in 2004 by the American Dietetic Association, less than half — 43 percent — of 3,719 respondents said women should have the right to breast-feed in public places.” (from MSNBC http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14065706/)
Ann, I have seen a lot more skin on the Chicago beaches than you are displaying and yet there are no articles in the paper about that.
It is really a sad state of affairs. It is frustrating for me to hear young women, tell me all the reasons why they are not breastfeeding like there baby is too small, they wont be able to produce enough milk….many of them were given such garbage in the hospital!!!
One friend called me from the hospital in tears after the birth of her first child. She begged me to come up and help her with her nursing because she just was not comfortable with the MALE lactation consultant.
On Memorial day I was given a dirty look as I fed Naomi on a park bench before the parade…..Naomi was even under a blanket and it was 90 at 9:00 am! I should have been giving the dirty looks.
One of the things that a lactation consultant told me in the hospital when I had Naomi is that we are so uncomfortable with breastfeeding as a culture because young people never see aunts, mothers….nursing their babies anymore. We never grew up with nursing as a normal thing.
Some good news….I know women on WIC and medicare who have been offered breast pumps while in the hospital. It is a start!
Violet sez:
Aunt Ann!
Lulu Bottle!
The wisdom of the child.
ann, thank you so much for spreading the word about breastfeeding! as you know, i posted about this recently on my blog as well. the more people getting the word out, the better.
i really do think many people feel weird or offended by breastfeeding because they just don’t know. and like nicole commented, our generation didn’t grow up seeing other women nursing on a normal, everyday-life basis.
if most of my extended family knew i was still nursing cadence now, at over 22 months, i’m sure i’d get funny looks. i’ll never forget back at easter, ted’s 5 year old 2nd cousin was watching me nurse cadence. she asked me what cadence was doing, and i said, ‘she’s eating.’ she gave me the most adorably confused look and exclaimed, ‘eating WHAT?’ it was really funny at the time, but in retrospect it’s also sad that she has no idea what nursing is and never had the chance to experience it herself.
i hope that as breastfeeding gains wider acceptance, gentler and compassionate parenting will also become the norm. could you imagine how different our society would become if most of our children, especially in low-income families, grew up with that kind of parenting?
I was really uncomfortable nursing in front of anyone at first, with my first child. I struggled especially with guys – wondering if nursing where I might be visible to them, or where they might figure out what I’m doing, would be “causing them to stumble”.
But as I’ve thought about it more*, I’ve realized that in my mind I’ve tended to equate “causing them to stumble” with “making them uncomfortable”… that we as American Christians often tend to avoid doing, saying, or talking about anything that might make another Christian uncomfortable. And my real fear has not been causing someone to stumble as much as just embarrassing them.
And by acting out of fear I’ve lost out on a lot – as did my children – and perhaps also others who might have otherwise realized that breastfeeding is a good and healthy thing even if it makes them uncomfortable.
(*I have thought this for some time, but recently reading Franky Schaeffer’s book “Sham Pearls for Real Swine” – I’m midway through – helped me to put words around my feelings. It’s a book about the arts and Christianity, not about breastfeeding, but one of his premises is that the church has compromised the arts and free expression by avoiding “uncomfortable” things.)
kelly, i was just thinking that maybe one of the reasons that women’s breasts are objectified and sexualized so much these days is due to the lack of public breastfeeding that has gone on these past 50-60 years or so. maybe if more boys and men saw women breastfeeding, they could see that breasts give life and nourishment and are to be “handled” with respect. i am not saying that breasts are NOT sexual, but that they are so much more than that. the fact that mama’s milk can provide all the nutrition a baby needs is just absolutely amazing to me.
I am so proud and thankful that our bodies were made to nourish and comfort our babies!
Sarah, I loved the article you wrote on your blog about breastfeeding — but I don’t know the url! Could you post a link to that article so people who are interested could read it? It was very thoughtfully written.
If you click on Sarah’s name, you reach her blog. :)
ann, in case future readers do not want to scroll down to find it, here is a link for “just that post”:http://www.sarahjanerhee.com/2006/08/happy-world-breastfeeding-week.html [edited by Jon]
Deborah, you are so smart! thanks. :)