Should Women Breastfeed in Public?

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Higher breastfeeding rates mean lower rates of illness and disease.  Research demonstrates that mothers who feel embarrassed to breastfeed in public often wean their babies prematurely. Where a society supports breastfeeding, mothers are encouraged to breastfeed and they breastfeed longer.
Healthy People 2010 is a national health promotion and disease prevention initiative that brings together national, state, and local government agencies and professional organizations, businesses, communities; and individuals to address major public health issues. One of the goals of Healthy People 2010, is to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies to 75 percent.

According to the World Health Organization, “Infants should be exclusively breastfed – i.e. receive only breast milk – for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health. "Exclusive breastfeeding" is defined as giving no other food or drink – not even water – except breast milk.”

This is all well publicized information, yet many mothers do not breastfeed. The American Academy of Pediatrics lists “lack of support in society” as one of the main obstacles to breastfeeding success.

Peggy O’Mara, editor of Mothering Magazine says, “Breastfeeding should be embraced rather than avoided in public. It is only through making breastfeeding common in the public sphere that we will become a breastfeeding culture. And it is impossible for us to reach our health goals as a nation if we do not become a breastfeeding culture.”