Breastfeeding in Public

When my son was born I was faced with the most basic of decisions... bottle feed with formula or breastfeed. I was given classes, articles, websites and advice to make my decision, and in the end I decided to breastfeed him. I don't recall ever having a mindset that breastfeeding was gross or disgusting or wrong before being pregnant, but facing society made me wonder if other people are raised to believe nursing a child, one of the most amazing functions of a woman's body, is sexual or wrong.

Now of course these people will have definitely not breastfed their children. It goes without saying that women who have nursed their children know the beauty of it, despite it having some pitfalls. When I was in my classes I was warned some people would have a problem, but I don't think I ever really realized what they meant until I started breastfeeding in public.

Somewhere along the line someone decided that breasts belong on billboards and not to be used as nourishment. I have added two photos, one of a woman's breasts and one of a child nursing from a breast. Both images are beautiful in their own way, and can also be considered inappropriate for different reasons, but be honest with yourself, which photo makes you more uncomfortable?

Whoa! Breast! Eating baby! I know, it's such a shocking image, isn't it? But what are we teaching ourselves? Why is it so hard to see a child being loved and nourished by it's mother but we just overlook (or gawk) blatant sexuality? And some people may not feel this way, but the majority do. Being sexual is often respected and admired while a nursing mother is shunned. Why?

Maybe it is because of society's draw towards the sexual. Breasts have become a sexual object in every way, so I can see how someone who sees a breastfeeding baby might be a little put off by a child at the breast. But when is this going to change? I know that I for one believe whole heartedly that it needs to change.

Society right now expects a breastfeeding mother to sit inside her home and when company is over, for her to sit in a back room, isolated from life. But they also want women to breastfeed because of the benefit to the mother and the child. It is a fantastic double standard mothers of today are facing. When a woman takes a rest on a bench in a mall and feeds her child, she shouldn't have to deal with people making comments and giving her dirty looks.

In the United States 39 states have laws that protect a woman's right to breastfeed in public, and the rest have laws protecting women from being charged with crimes like public lewdness. That would assume an overwhelming support for breastfeeding mothers, but that assumption would be wrong. Women feel forced out of nursing their children because of its inconvenience and the stigma attached to it.

In fact, most women (70%) begin their child's life by breastfeeding with slightly less (62%) breastfeed exclusively. (kellymom.com) Halfway through the pediatrician-recommended year of breastfeeding those numbers drop to 36% and 14% respectively. At a year exclusive breastfeeding should be obsolete, but continuing supplementing solid food with nursing drops to only 17% of mothers, despite the fact that the American Association of Pediatrics continues to boast the benefits of breastfeeding one year or longer.

What is equally depressing is that the United States is far behind other countries when it comes to children's health. Considering Norway, Sweden, and Poland start off with women breastfeeding their children at the amazing rate of over 90%. The US also seems to have a problem with extended breastfeeding, where in countries around the world have an average weaning age of 4 years of age and breastfeeding in public is not only accepted, but expected.

So where do we go from here? There has to be some sort of forward motion in our thinking. When minds become stagnant like they have been, regarding breastfeeding, in the past, change cannot take place. Where an individual can help is to support the nursing mothers in their lives. I cannot say how negative reactions hurt me because that kind of human emotion is hard to describe. But being told everything from "It's time to quit, I think" to "I don't think you're giving him enough nourishment" lead me to live a solitary life for my son's first year of life. I know now that when I have another child that I will not be afraid to step outside someone else's comfort zone in order to feed my child; I genuinely hope someday everyone will feel the same.