Should Women Breastfeed in Public?

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Breastfeeding women are routinely asked to cover their babies or retire to a bathroom stall in the name of decency. At the same time, magazines and movies routinely showcase breasts as glamorous. A woman at work often shows more cleavage than is exposed during breastfeeding, and a summer beach is a sea of nearly-naked breasts. This is a baffling double standard. Why are some people so afraid of seeing a breastfeeding mother?

It is possible that some people are uncomfortable with viewing a breastfeeding mother simply because they have not seen it before. It is natural human curiosity. In cultures where public breastfeeding is the norm it is accepted and virtually ignored. Yet, how will we as a culture learn to accept breastfeeding when it is judged and criticized as a lifestyle choice rather than viewed as a normal method of baby-feeding.

While science proves that breastfeeding is clearly best for babies, one of the obstacles to new mothers continues to be concern over whether or not it is acceptable to do so in public. This trepidation is enhanced by news stories that create fear for breastfeeding mothers, who when faced with an infant who needs to be fed every two to three hours, must weigh the possibility of public embarrassment should they venture to leave their homes -- or that bathroom stall. Lysa Parker of Attachment Parenting International says, “Mothers need to feel supported by the culture in which they live. To say that "we" acknowledge that breast milk is best, because the research is abundantly clear, but then to make mothers feel ashamed to feed their baby in public is hypocritical and harmful to the baby and mother.”

In many parts of the world the sight of a nursing mother is an ordinary aspect of everyday life. Our society, however, has conditioned people to view breasts only from a sexual standpoint and not as a body part with a crucial, primary biological function – to feed a child.

It would be a sign of our maturity as a society for us to view breastfeeding is the natural default for baby feeding. No one harangues a woman who is feeding her baby from a bottle in a public place, nor should we condemn a mother who is breastfeeding her child. I think it’s time that we accept breastfeeding as the natural, normal way of feeding a baby. And nothing more. I think it’s time that we mature as a society to understand and accept that breastfeeding is a natural human baby-feeding act.