Its hard for me to believe that the issue of feeding a baby is so hotly contested in our society.
If a woman chooses to feed her baby the way she is meant to be fed, then why on Earth is she being chastised for the time and place?
Believe it or not, she can’t control where and when her baby is going to get hungry.
The silly part about all this is when someone walks down the street or in the mall, there are advertisements for places similar to Victoria’s Secret.
The women in the pictures are wearing barely anything to cover up their bodies. Every year the lingerie gets more and more revealing, and the models are revered.
But women who are actually using their breasts for what they are made for are shamed.
I’m not following this logic.
The answer is not as simple as “Oh, go into a rest room if you want to do that,” or “Just wear a nursing cover.”
Are you kidding me?
Opponents want a nursing mother to feed her newborn infant in a dirty public rest room?
That sounds disgusting to me.
And what about the older babies, not all of them are comfortable being totally covered in that way. Many babies actually pull and kick the cover off, as they get older.
New moms already have a hard time breast feeding; it’s painful and takes a lot of time.
It’s especially difficult for a new mother who is in college and has so much else on her plate. Imagine being publicly humiliated by someone coming up and telling them to go somewhere else to feed their baby.
Just one more event to discourage an inexperienced, young mom from doing the best thing they can for their newborn.
What’s a mom to do?
First, she should tell any ridiculous, overly-prude person who obviously has no idea the implications of what they said where to stick it.
Then, they should make sure they know their state laws as it pertains to breast feeding in public.
In California, a woman may breast feed in any location, public or private. Except in the private residence of another where the mother is otherwise authorized to be present.
Meaning: at the park, in a restaurant, or at school (if you have time), don’t be afraid to feed your baby.
And to be perfectly honest, its not really about the jerk telling you what to do, its about the well-being of the baby.
Who cares what other people think? California Law is on the mothers side, no matter what.
Helping educate new mothers and passing on the word that breast feeding is totally natural and appropriate is the only way to fight this stigma.
