Why is breastfeeding in public bad

Studies show that breast milk is one of the best ways to protect babies and mothers from illness and disease. Breastfeeding also helps to protect against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS , and breastfeeding mothers see increased protections against cancer, diabetes and heart disease, Feldman-Winter said.

Idaho and Utah were the last to pass laws protecting mothers who breastfeed outside the house and sadly, that was just in Idaho bill sponsor Republican Rep. Paul Amador, a father of a then 5-month-old son, called it shameful in this age that breastfeeding moms were offered no protection.

The airline defended its policy. She says that she breastfeeds her daughter on takeoff and landing which helps her baby sleep and prevents problems with her ears. This is a "purely cultural belief," Escobar said.

But experts agree that we all need to learn how to react to and respect this very natural process. Escobar invites those who feel uncomfortable to avert their gaze, smile and just remember that this family is doing the best possible thing.

It's what has allowed our species to survive," Angel said. The comments in bold quotations are true You actually can cover up, or pump, or go sit in your car if you feel the need to breastfeed your child discreetly or privately. Like I said, I respect that some people are just a bit more sensitive to uncovered breastfeeding than others I look back at some of the things I said and did before breastfeeding my two babies, and truth be told, I was such a fool.

And if you made it to the end of this article, then you probably picked up on the fact that walking in those shoes is no easy task. So next time you see a mother breastfeeding her baby, covered or uncovered, give her a smile or a nod of respect.

She might need it more than you know, and that is the truth. News U. Politics Joe Biden Congress Extremism. Special Projects Highline. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Follow Us. Walmart employees made lewd comments and asked a nursing mother to cover up in Greenville, South Carolina.

Delta Airlines told a nursing mother that she could not stay on board the airplane if she continued to nurse her baby without a cover. They have since apologized. Public Breastfeeding State Laws According to the National Conference of State Legislatures , all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have passed laws that protect a woman's right to nurse her baby in public and private places.

Breastfeeding Laws in the Workplace Laws related to breastfeeding in the workplace are on the books in 32 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Breastfeeding and Jury Duty Breastfeeding mothers are exempt from jury duty or allowed to postpone jury service in 19 states and Puerto Rico.

Breastfeeding Awareness Campaign Six states and Puerto Rico have implemented or encouraged breastfeeding awareness education campaigns. Tips for Moms Who Nurse in Public Even though public nursing is protected in most states, there are still many people who are against the practice. Know the Law About Public Breastfeeding Carry a copy of your state's law on the topic of public breastfeeding. Clarify Communication Clarify what you hear from the other person.

Consider a Nursing Cover Decide how you feel about nursing covers and whether you want to use one when you're in public. Be Confident Be confident in your choice. It's Your Choice Whether you choose to nurse in public, it's important to understand both sides of this issue. Best Breastfeeding Covers.

By Eliza Martinez. How to Stop Breastfeeding. One of the key elements extracted from the family conversations was the description of breastfeeding as an activity in public. As seen in the above conversation and the one below, there were comments in the descriptions around breastfeeding in public that highlighted that breastfeeding for some was a private and personal matter.

MGM: I think the breastfeeding is a time you spend with your baby anyway. Fam 4. Later in this family conversation the MGM equated breastfeeding to going to the toilet, taking the inappropriateness of breastfeeding in public and the requirement for privacy to a whole new level. Being a private and personal matter, meant that for some of the participants both men and women, breastfeeding was not an activity that should be undertaken in front of men.

This was because it was unapproved of by men or made men feel uncomfortable. The concept of being safe is raised further in this paper.

In the following quote a friend describes how trying to cover up rather than feed in front of others made her stressed. For the following woman she was clear that she would not feel comfortable breastfeeding in public at all.

Descriptions of how others considered the mothers were feeling when breastfeeding in public were also voiced in the conversations. Participants in the groups generally believed that if a woman breastfed in public she must feel comfortable about it or indifferent about how other people in the public might feel. Fam Feelings of others in relation breastfeeding in public ranged from feeling embarrassed to feeling fine but with a proviso that the woman was not exposed.

Like that. Mother: Baby sling that you can kind of turnover on that side, so the baby just sees what it needs to get to, what it needs to get to without exposing it to everybody and making everyone feel uncomfortable. These findings correlate with other findings in this study that women need to be discrete and covered when breastfeeding in public and arguably that the woman needs to be mindful of the comfort of others. The data revealed a number of actions of both the mother and others in relation to the practice of breastfeeding in public.

When the actions of the mother, were collated, what became obvious was that there were both appropriate and inappropriate actions in terms of breastfeeding in public. A number of appropriate actions for a mother to breastfeed in public were raised in the conversations. These actions included covering up and putting it away. Notice that the last quote is in fact identifying two actions covering and exposing which juxtaposes what is considered an appropriate action with an inappropriate action.

This usage suggests that if a woman does not cover up when breastfeeding in public, she is as good as baring herself. The cover, cover yourself. MGM, Fam2. Putting the boob away could negate the need to breastfeed in public. Actions that supported putting the boob away included timing the feed, expressing milk, and giving a dummy. But if you time it well too, what you do is your feed is the last thing you do before you leave the house. Pack everything up, get ready and sort of time it.

You can work it out usually that you feed the baby, then you leave the house. You might not have to worry about it. Yeah so. Aunt Fam 1. Again both the women and others made comments that identified inappropriate actions of the breastfeeding woman. Inappropriate actions included getting your boobs out a euphemism for exposing your breasts and showing off.

Sister: I see so many women out there who manage to do it, without showing anything to anybody. Fam 1. Not only was there concern that a woman would be exposing herself if she breastfed in public, there was a sense that breastfeeding in public could also be seen as a form of exhibitionism.

The accusation that a woman was showing off, appeared to occur if she was not suitably discrete or was seen breastfeeding in an inappropriate location. MGM: Even if you have to in public there are always ways women can do it discretely without everyone having to see.

Family 4. As well as looking at the actions of the mothers, the text was also examined for the actions of others in relation to breastfeeding in public. The actions by others included perving, commenting, and judging. Perving is derived from the word perv which can be defined as a lustful or lecherous look. This reinforces the view that the breast is consistently viewed as sexual even when performing a functional role. As the following quote suggests, the concept of being safe was connected to the concern regarding how people would react in the public.

Mother: You never know what people are thinking or what people are saying you know Fam Later in this conversation the sexual role of the breast emerged suggesting that keeping safe was related to the unwanted sexual gaze. Other actions identified in the data demonstrated that women who breastfeed in public make themselves subject to comments and being judged.

Extrapolating from the excerpts of conversation used throughout this paper that suggest women who breastfeed in public can be seen as exhibitionists, exposing themselves and ridiculous would demonstrate that they are indeed judged. Another key feature that was found in the data was that location played a significant role in breastfeeding in public.

There were both subtle and overt comments within the conversations that identified there were both appropriate and inappropriate locations for breastfeeding to occur. For example, in the following quote while the woman advocates that it is her right to breastfeed in public she also identifies that she would only feed in an appropriate place. Fam 5. In examining the data, a number of locations were identified and included what was obviously appropriate and inappropriate locations breastfeed. Comments made regarding these appropriate locations included:.

Locations that were deemed as unacceptable for women to breastfeed included, in public, in a shop, parliament, a bus, hiding away in a corner, in a food court, the toilet, and restaurants. But like sitting in a restaurant or something like that, may be a little bit unnerving because I think some restaurateurs can be a bit disturbed if someone is breastfeeding out in public. Your sitting down having a nice meal and you can be put off. For this study we explored the perceptions and experiences around breastfeeding in public, using data drawn from nine family conversations.

One of the perceived limitations of this research is that it reports on only nine family group conversations around breastfeeding in public. As such, the findings may not be transferable to other communities in Australia. The groups however, do represent 50 individuals and the findings resonate with reports of the experiences and reactions of other people and groups regarding breastfeeding in public in Australia [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 42 ].

The findings therefore, contribute to the evidence on the perceptions and beliefs around breastfeeding in public in Australia. These included the descriptions of the event, the actions, the locations, and feelings of the dominant players. These key elements of the conversations and the emergent concepts within these elements, allowed an exploration of the dominant ideology around breastfeeding in public within these groups.

While it might be argued that there are other perspectives on breastfeeding in public, in this context, breastfeeding in public was viewed as a contested activity that had social boundaries and rules.

The key findings from this research demonstrated that while there was some controversy over whether breastfeeding in public should occur at all, the main focus of the conversations centred on how breastfeeding in public should be conducted and where. Comparatively, there were only a small number of participants in this study who considered breastfeeding was not an acceptable activity to occur in public.

The acceptability of breastfeeding in public appears to be an ongoing controversy and a number of authors make reference to this. What was clearly evident in our research and similar to other researchers in this field, was that even when breastfeeding in public was seen as acceptable it must be undertaken within a highly regulated and socially acceptable norm [ 12 , 43 ].

In our research, this highly regulated environment was seen to be one where a breastfeeding woman was discrete, covering herself, and feeding in a location that was deemed appropriate. In , David Koch a television presenter on a breakfast show in Australia created debate with the following statement:. Women should be able to breastfeed in public Similar to our research findings, the debate did not focus on whether women should breastfeed in public but rather, how it should be done.

While this incident took place in , women in Australia continue to be faced with social disapproval in relation to breastfeeding in public. Despite a later apology by the Gallery director, the incident exemplifies the continued and vexed ideology around breastfeeding in public and demonstrates the correlation between our findings and those of the general public in Australia.

In this discourse, breastfeeding is presented as shameful, to be hidden, and women are required to take responsibility for managing the discomfort of others when breastfeeding in public spaces. In a study of new migrants in Australia, the perceived lack of visibility of breastfeeding in public led the women to believe that breastfeeding in public was indeed a shameful and inappropriate act [ 45 ].

Those findings are congruent with much earlier studies on migrant women from Vietnam [ 46 ] who also identified a lack of visibility of breastfeeding in public and the negative impact of this on their infant feeding decisions. Boyer [ 12 ] argues that the unease in breastfeeding in public is a significant factor in breastfeeding cessation.

Some could argue that changes have been seen in the acceptability of breastfeeding in public, with Larisa Waters an elected senator for the Australian Greens, breastfeeding her baby in the Australian Senate in early [ 47 ].