The Attached Mother

I read this news article and could only sigh and shake my head. Apparently Millions of new mums say breastfeeding in public is still a nightmare. Even in this day and age mothers are still being looked down on for simply feeding their children.

Over at The F-Word there is a great post discussing this issue. The numbers shared are shameful and disturbing to think about. Despite the knowledge that breastfeeding is the best way to nourish children there is still a disaproving glare cast on it from society.

More than one fifth of the women who participated claimed they have left their babies screaming from hunger rather than opting for the alternative of feeding them in a public place. Many women fear that they would be judged for their decision to breast-feed, with 38 per cent of new mums banishing themselves to lavatories as they anticipate a negative reception in a public space. In fact 54 percent of mothers claimed to have received unwanted attention when feeding their babies, with more than 14 per cent confessing to having heated arguments with those who have been so abhorred by their actions. Consequently, more than a third of the women questioned opt to use formula milk in public in order to avoid any unnecessary conflagrations.

Unfortunately it isn’t just confined to the UK. Mothers in the US have seen their fair share of issues over public breastfeeding. And there have also been the online fights such as MySpace removing breastfeeding images as obscene, LiveJournal deleting breastfeeding icons, and FaceBook banning breastfeeding images. It is almost no wonder some moms would rather let their babies cry than try to feed them. The public reactions make it clear which option is more acceptable.

As a two-time mom I’ve done both. When my oldest was little I bought into the fear. I hid in bathrooms, went back to the car, and timed leaving the house to be only exactly between feedings. Which was a daunting task since breastfed babies eat more often and with no real schedule.

Still I worried about other people seeing my breasts and being offended. Never mind that female breasts were already all around us. By the time my second son came along I had a much more “been there, done that” attitude. I carried him in the sling and nursed him in the store, walking down the street, at the thrift shop, at the park, and anywhere else we went. Of all the nursing going on only three times did anyone ever know what I was doing. One when a woman commenting on my sleeping babe and I said he was actually eating, another when a woman got face to face with him trying to get a good look, and lastly when a man at the next table made it his business to stare at my chest as he ate his dinner.

The vast majority of the time people assumed he was sleeping, and I learned not to bother to correct them. He cuddled up close to my chest and drank happily without a fuss. As he got older it became harder to hide what I was doing, but by then I had already gained enough self confidence not to care. Now as a toddler it’s easier to ask him to wait until later, though most of the time he’s too occupied to be bothered with nursing.

breastfeeding, infants, public breastfeeding, mothers, new mothers