Breastfeeding in Public 101

A few ignorant Wal-Mart employees have not-so-graciously given me one more point to add to my previous argument. A few days ago, one supervisor and four other employees at the Two Notch Road Wal-Mart in Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina, allegedly harrassed a woman who was trying to breastfeed her baby. Apparently the five employees were standing in the area and, as she sat down to nurse, came over to her to say she would have to go in the fitting room to breastfeed. THEN, one of them began pushing away her cart in which her toddler was seated. Wal-Mart has taken the same old cowardly stance as is generally taken in this circumstance: "The dressing room was offered to Silvis as a courtesy and employees did not mean to offend her." Gosh. Does it really take five employees to offer someone a courtesy? And does anyone have the right to move someone else's child, even if they think they are doing her a favor?

I can think of numerous zingers to blast Wal-Mart right now, but there's really no point. Instead, I'd like to take a moment for a little public service announcement.

Are you one of the many possibly childless people who do not understand why a woman would need to breastfeed in public? Then this post is dedicated to you. I'm going to address some of the ignorant arguments I've heard and explain the logic behind breastfeeding on-the-go.

1) "Isn't that what pumps are for? Why doesn't she just pump and give the baby a bottle?" First, because it's incredibly inconvenient. It would take a minimum of twenty extra minutes to sterilize equipment, assemble the pump, and express the milk. Then a bottle and possibly a cooler, depending upon the length of the trip, must be added to the baby bag. Breastfeeding moms can otherwise get by with a diaper, a wipe, and a baby sling. Second, pumps do not grow on trees. A decent electric pump will set you back around $100, and that's for occasional use only. Go any cheaper than that and pumping may be a painful or fruitless effort. Many breastfeeding moms do not work outside the home and cannot afford a pump. Besides, some moms who have a top-of-the-line pump still can't express enough milk with it. There is a ginormous difference between a baby and a pump, and nursing the baby always has been and remains the best way to express milk. The biggest reason of all is that not every baby will take a bottle. There is a big difference between the sucking needed to breastfeed and the sucking needed to bottlefeed, and, to put it simply, some babies are picky. Even picky babies need to eat, whether they are at home or in public.

2) "Okay, fine, but why doesn't she cover up? I don't want (my children/husband) to see a breast!" My daughter was fond of ripping off the blanket as she breastfed and exposing me to passersby. Some babies just lean back and wail rather than breastfeed when their mothers try to cover them. Don't forget, a mom can't cover herself without covering her baby's head! I don't know about you, but I like to breathe while I eat. Also, I think there's a common notion that just because a woman is breastfeeding her entire breast is going to be on display, but that's just not true in the majority of cases. The baby's head covers 95% of it.

3) "Well if she can't cover up, why doesn't she go in the bathroom?" When was the last time you ate lunch in the bathroom? Bathrooms are filthy places. They're stinky and germy. Fecal matter is sprayed out of the toilets in an aerosol mist. The flushing is loud and scares many babies. In some bathrooms, there's nowhere to sit but on a toilet! I have never met an adult who preferred to eat in the bathroom over the food court; why would a mother want to take her baby in there?

4) "What's wrong with going in another room?" Some mothers do go in another room, and it's fine if that's what they want to do, but I don't like to. For the first several months I always excused myself to nurse Suzi. But you know what? I ended up missing out on a lot of time I should have been spending with family and friends! Everyone else would be at the table eating, talking and laughing while I sat alone nursing my baby with no one to keep me company. Some nursing sessions last 30 minutes or longer. Many new moms spend all day without another adult to talk to, and if they get a chance to go out with friends they should not be banished to a dark corner just because it's time for a nursing session.

5) "Don't I have the right to go out in public and not see a woman breastfeeding?" You have the right to look the other way. Love it or hate it, the law (SC Act 269) states: "A woman may breastfeed her child in any location where the mother and child are authorized to be. Breastfeeding a child in a location where the mother is authorized to be must not be considered indecent exposure."

As far as I'm concerned, people who do not want to see a mom breastfeeding are adequately protected. Think about similar issues, such as smoking in public. In most of South Carolina people can smoke pretty much anywhere outside and in many restaurants and bars. I have no choice but to breathe their smoke, which gives me an awful headache and cold-like symptoms, or stay home. Worse yet, there are many children suffering from reactive airway disease, asthma, and a host of other respiratory problems. These children, for whom even a wisp of cigarette smoke can cause major discomfort, are subjected to it every day under the law.

So, in comparison, I think it's pretty simple to avert your eyes from the sight of a woman nourishing her child. As one of my favorite bloggers says, "that's why God gave us necks."

If you would like to thank a business for their support of breastfeeding, or if you have been harrassed while trying to nurse in a public place, you can contact the SC Breastfeeding Coalition through their website: www.scbreastfeedingcoalition.org.