Image courtesy of David Siqueira

1. Denny’s Restaurant harasses nursing mother. After Crystal Everitt was asked to cover up while breastfeeding at an Asheville, North Carolina, Denny’s restaurant, the regional management issued an unsatisfactory response. Local breastfeeding supporters went ahead with a nurse-in at the restaurant.

2. Dear Abby on pumping at work. Back in March, advice columnist Abigail Van Buren rightfully advised a woman not to be ashamed of pumping at work, but she failed to point out that a bathroom is not a pumping room and that California law protects pumping mothers in the workplace. The following June, the Dear Abby column published several follow-up letters with helpful information.

3. Parents Magazine advises being “discreet.” In April, I wrote to the Parents Magazine etiquette columnist about her belief that nursing in public is only okay as long as the breastfeeding mother is being “discreet” by utilizing shawls, scarves, dark booths and quiet corners.

4. Acosta Tacos fires woman for breastfeeding at work. The owner of Acosta Tacos in Los Angeles, California was ordered to pay Marina Chavez $21,645.00 in lost wages plus $20,000.00 for emotional damages after the owner fired Chavez for breastfeeding her baby on her breaks. In this groundbreaking case, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission found that breastfeeding is intrinsic to the female sex and thus breastfeeding discrimination is sex discrimination under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The owner was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, establish a written policy on sex discrimination, and post a notice regarding the company’s FEHA violation.

5. Olive Garden requires modesty. In Michigan City, Indiana, Maggie Naas was asked to move to the restroom to breastfeed her baby because, according to that Olive Garden restaurant’s manager, she was not being modest enough.

6. Chick-Fil-A offers a towel to cover up. Thirty breastfeeding women staged a nurse-in at a Florida Chick-Fil-A after a mother was asked to cover her nursing baby with a towel. The mother attempted to contact the local and corporate management and apparently received no response. (One of my favorite pictures from the nurse-in shows the Chick-Fil-A mascot, a cow, looking on as a woman nurses. There’s a joke in there somewhere!)

7. Settlement negotiations between Emily Gillette and Delta Airlines end in lawsuit being filed. It’s hard to believe that it was three years ago that Emily Gillette and her family were asked to de-board an airplane when Ms. Gillette refused a flight attendant’s request to cover her 22-month-old nursling with a blanket. In October 2009 the Burlington Free Press reported that negotiations to settle the discrimination case collapsed and Ms. Gillette has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont.

Finally, an incident that I had to add after this post was already scheduled to publish:

8. Target store calls cops on breastfeeding mother. Earlier this week the mother of a four-week-old baby felt forced to leave the Target store in Harper Woods, Michigan after she disputed the security guards’ claim that breastfeeding in the store was illegal. Guess which store will not benefit from my holiday shopping this year? [Edited to add the good news that HB 5515, the pending breastfeeding discrimination bill in Michigan, passed out of committee on a vote of 11 to 2 after the hearing on December 2nd!]

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

The ironically nipple-like Target bullseye; Photo by TheTruthAbout...

MyFOXDetroit.com reports that on Sunday at the Target store in Harper Woods, Michigan, the mother of a 4-week-old baby was told by security that breastfeeding in the store was illegal. When the mother and her off-duty police officer husband disagreed, the police were called and the mother was so embarrassed that she felt forced to leave the store! Target headquarters issued this statement in response to the incident:

This specific situation escalated to a point where we were concerned for the safety of our guests, so law enforcement was called. We regret the incident in our store and will continue to provide a shopping environment that respects the needs of all guests, including nursing mothers.

Unfortunately this is not the first instance of alleged breastfeeding discrimination by a Target store. Back in 2006 an employee in a Minneapolis, Minnesota Target store told a mother she could not nurse her baby in a fitting room. At that time, Target issued the following statement:

Target has a long-standing practice that supports breastfeeding in our stores. We apologize for any inconvenience the guest experienced and will take this opportunity to reaffirm this commitment with our team members.

For guests in our stores, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting rooms. In addition, guests who choose to breastfeed discreetly in more public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable.

Aside from the “disceetly” remark that’s an okay response, except now it’s happened again in another store.

Michigan Breastfeeding Law

Currently the Michigan state law exempts breastfeeding from the public nudity statute. Breastfeeding may also be taken into consideration in child custody cases. This most recent Target incident demonstrates exactly why Michiganders need to support the pending breastfeeding legislation, House Bill 5515. HB 5515 would allow a woman to breastfeed anywhere she may otherwise legally be. The law would amend the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act to state in part:

Sec. 302. Except where permitted by law, a person shall not: (a) Deny the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation or public service to an individual because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, or marital status or to a woman because she is breastfeeding a child.

I have written to the office of the sponsor of the bill to make sure she knows about this latest alleged breastfeeding discrimination in time for the legislative hearing tomorrow, December 2, 2009. Michigan mothers are invited to testify at the hearing.

[Edited to add the good news that after the December 2nd hearing, HB 5515 passed out of committee by a vote of 11-2!]

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Sec. 302. Except where permitted by law, a person shall not: (a) Deny the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation or public service to an individual because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, or marital status or to a woman because she is breastfeeding a child.

To have breastfeeding viewed as a civil right is a wonderful and powerful thing and I hope all Michiganders will speak out in support of the bill!

How Michigan Mothers Can Help

MI State Rep. Rebekah Warren

Mark S. Meadows (D), Committee Chair, 69th District (markmeadows@house.mi.gov)
Ellen Cogen Lipton (D), Majority Vice-Chair, 27th District (EllenLipton@house.mi.gov)
Lisa Brown (D), 39th District (LisaBrown@house.mi.gov)
Bob Constan (D), 16th District; (bobconstan@house.mi.gov)
Marc R. Corriveau (D), 20th District ( marccorriveau@house.mi.gov)
Andy Coulouris (D), 95th District (andycoulouris@house.mi.gov)
Andrew J. Kandrevas (D), 13th District (andrewkandrevas@house.mi.gov)
Bettie Cook Scott (D), 3rd District (bettiecookscott@house.mi.gov)
Rebekah Warren (D), 53rd District (rebekahwarren@house.mi.gov)
Tonya Schuitmaker (R), Minority Vice-Chair, 80th District (tonyaschuitmaker@house.mi.gov)
Justin Amash (R), 72nd District (justinamash@house.mi.gov)
Joseph Haveman (R), 90th District (JosephHaveman@house.mi.gov)
Rick Jones (R), 71st District (rickjones@house.mi.gov)
Eileen Kowall (R), 44th District (EileenKowall@house.mi.gov)
Tory Rocca (R), 30th District (tonyrocca@house.mi.gov)

Malika Abdul-Basir, Committee Clerk 517-373-7256 (mabdul@house.mi.gov)

A resident may find out who his or her own Representative is at the Find a Representative tool.

The second way to support the bill is to testify before the committee. Michigan breastfeeding mothers are needed to testify on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 10:30 a.m. at the meeting of the Judiciary Committee in Room 521 of the House Office Building in Lansing. The House Office Building is at 124 N. Capitol, at the corner of Capitol and Ottawa in downtown Lansing. Anyone may testify, even without advance notice. If someone would like to testify but cannot attend, he or she may mail or email their testimony to Kim Easter in advance of the hearing. Even if someone prefers not to testify, his or her attendance at a hearing and personal correspondence with committee members and his or her own legislators are important in influencing the decision-making process.

Tips for Testifying before the Committee

The purpose of testimony given should be informational so that committee members can vote on the bill with as full an understanding as possible of all sides of the issue it addresses, and the consequences of its passage. A witness should prepare testimony in advance and keep the testimony short and to the point.

When you testify, identify who you are and, if you represent a group, give the name of the group. At the beginning of your remarks, state that you are testifying in support of the bill. Relate your group’s or your own experience or views directly to the issue.

If you are asked a hostile question, keep a cool head. Don’t be afraid to stop and think for a minute to answer a question properly. If you don’t have the answer, never guess—request permission to file a detailed response at a later date.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Whose responsibility is it to control the advertising, marketing and promotional activities which may create a market in spite of public health considerations?

In the hearing itself, Senator Kennedy put a Nestlé executive through a very pointed line of questioning on the company’s social responsibility in countries where poverty and the lack of a sanitary water supply make f*ormula-feeding particularly dangerous. Watch this fascinating clip:

Patti Rundall, Policy Director for Baby Milk Action and Co-coordinator of the WABA Advocacy Task Force, highlighted Kennedy’s contribution:

Senator Edward Kennedy cared not only for US citizens but also for international health. It was his vision, as Chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, which instigated the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981. This Code is a benchmark for good practice and is used by governments all over the world to protect infant and young child health from unethical marketing.

The question in my mind is, who will take up the torch now? Who in the United States will hold f*ormula companies to the standards of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Thanks to The Feminist Breeder for this cover shot:

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

We are willing to give Liebig’s artificial milk when we cannot do better, but we watch the child anxiously whose wet-nurse is a chemist’s pipkin. A pair of substantial mammary glands has the advantage over the two hemispheres of the most learned Professor’s brain, in the art of compounding a nutritious fluid for infants.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894), p. 276 of Medical Essays

A “pipkin” is a small earthenware boiler, so Holmes was expressing concern about the feeding of babies from a chemist’s cooking pot.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

On October 3, 2009 at 11:00 am mothers and children at sites across Canada, the United States and other countries will compete to set the record for the most children breastfeeding at one time. The winners of the competition will be the site with the most children breastfeeding at one site, the country with the most children breastfeeding at registered sites and in North America the region (province or territory or state) with the most children participating as a percentage of the birth rate. To level the playing field between large and small, each site will be entered into one of four groups determined by birth rate.

Last year there were 7,632 nurslings in nineteen countries at over 300 sites with a total of over 20,000 supporters! Registration for this year’s challenge is now open so you can find a site near you or register to organize your own site!

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Google Analytics map for Blisstree's Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blog

The next four countries are:

2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. India
5. Australia

I have been talking a lot about breastfeeding advocacy opportunities in the United States, so tonight I would like to share a breastfeeding advocacy opportunity for each of the other four countries listed. Please feel free to leave a comment if you are from any of those four countries and you have resources you would like to share!

Canada

“Join INFACT Canada and INFACT Quebec and sign on to the ‘Protect Breastfeeding Petition’ at http://protectbreastfeedingpetition.ca/. You can make a difference for mothers and children, sign the petition, share the petition and join us for a better world for all of us.”

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom you can read and sign the Breastfeeding Manifesto, an eight-page document that outlines seven objectives that support breastfeeding. The Manifesto notes:

The UK Governments and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, yet fewer than 2% of babies in the UK are exclusively breastfed at six months.

India

The Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India works to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in that country. You can endorse your views on an infant’s right to food by entering your name and email address.

Australia

The Australian Breastfeeding Association has a page dedicated to breastfeeding advocacy which includes a link to the incident report form for the marketing of infant formulas in Australia.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Unfortunately, I have been faced with the choice of covering up/leaving the room to nurse or starting a big fight–especially when visiting my husband’s family. I wonder what other breastfeeding advocates do in situations such as this. Do they stand their ground and nurse uncovered? Leave family functions early to make a point?

Good question, and I do not think there is one right answer. Let’s think through the options:

1. Nurse uncovered.
2. Nurse covered.
3. Retreat to a different room.
4. Leave the family function early.

Photo family on the couch by Peterme

For me, the decision would depend on exactly who is uncomfortable with my nursing (the host or another guest?), what my relationship is with him/her (close family, distant relative, good friend, an acquaintance), whether that person is otherwise supportive of me and my parenting, and what I hope my future relationship with that person to be.

Frankly there have been occasions where I have been glad for the excuse to slip away to another room to nurse! I do want it to be my choice however, and in certain situations I would be willing to take a stand, nurse uncovered, and be prepared with some sort of speech should I be questioned about it. “I’m sorry the baby’s nursing makes you uncomfortable. I was having such a nice time talking with everyone and it makes me feel excluded to have to leave when Suzy needs to eat.” Having made my point, I would then wait to see what the objector says and take it from there. If it were the host, and I were again asked to move, I would do so, perhaps with one final expression of, “I respect your wishes. I hope you’ll catch me up on what happens when I’m gone!” Then I would make a decision about whether it is important for me to continue to make an appearance at future family events.

Leaving the function early only hurts the nursing mother and immediate family. It’s unlikely to change anyone else’s mind about whether the mother is welcome to nurse (they’re not going to say, “Gee, I didn’t realize Nursing Mother would leave!”), and it might just make people more questioning of the mother’s “stubborn insistence” on nursing at all costs. That does not educate anyone on why it’s not acceptable to ask someone to cover up or move, and why the baby can’t just take a bottle while in others’ company.

Nursing covered is a non-confrontational compromise, and is certainly a valid option if it is a compromise the mother is willing to make. Retreating to another room also avoids confrontation if the mother is willing to make that sacrifice to keep the peace.

There’s one final option that I didn’t mention above. When it is the husband’s family that objects, it is the husband who should be the one who talks to the family about why it is important for the nursing mother and baby to be welcomed at family events. The nursing mother should not be put in the awkward position of having to defend herself or compromise her beliefs. The husband should show his support by politely speaking to the family members, preferably in advance of the event.

Your Thoughts

What have you done when a family member or friend has objected to your nursing? What affected your decision to take a stand or keep the peace at all costs?

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

Lots of carnival participants have shared their own stories and advice about nursing in public (see links at the end of this post), but first I would like to discuss the issue of whether women should or should not cover themselves with a nursing cover while breastfeeding in public. At first it might seem like a non-issue. I think most breastfeeding advocates would agree that women should not be told that they must cover themselves while nursing, but if a mother feels more comfortable using a cover, then she should use one — whatever it takes to allow her to feed her baby. To each her own, right? Well, maybe not.

Bebe Au Lait Nursing Cover

I have posted instructions for sewing your own Hooter Hider-style nursing cover and have had several women say how much they appreciate it. However, I once had a breastfeeding advocate tell me that she was not inclined to post a pattern for a nursing cover because she believed it sent the wrong message to new mothers; that they might feel they had to cover up and had to breastfeed in as discreet a manner as possible.

So in the corner of Reasons to Cover:

~ It can make a woman comfortable nursing in public when she might not otherwise.
~ A cover can help an easily distracted baby settle to the task at hand (er, at breast).
~ The cover actually draws attention to the act of breastfeeding and might encourage other women to nurse in public if they see a way that they too would be comfortable nursing in public.

In the corner of Reasons Not to Cover:

~ Some babies refuse to be covered.
~ Without the “right” type of cover, some women have a difficult time seeing the baby and getting a proper latch.
~ A cover potentially can be hot and uncomfortable for mother and baby.
~ As I said, a nursing cover often draws attention to the act of breastfeeding — something a woman using a cover might actually have been trying to avoid!
~ Feeding without a nursing cover helps normalize breastfeeding.
~ Showing women that breastfeeding in public can be done without a cover might empower other women to do the same.
~ A cover might diminish a baby’s communication with the mother and his or her experience with the world, if only for those feedings in public.

In the end I do not think a breastfeeding mother is under any obligation to refrain from using a cover because it might send the wrong message. Just as the woman who does not use a cover is not “whipping out” her breast to make a point, the woman who does use a cover is not doing so to send a message that all breastfeeding women should cover themselves. A nursing mother’s only obligation is to her baby. Period.

What do you think? Do you use a cover and if so, why? Did you make a choice not to use a cover, and if so, why? Have your feelings changed as you have become more comfortable nursing in public? Leave a comment!

Other Carnival Participants (stay tuned for more links being added below through Monday, June 22 — this is a huge carnival!)

Lucy & Ethel Have a Baby: Nursing In Public (Boobs) Out and Proud
PhD in Parenting: Would You, Could You Nurse in Public?
Dirty Diaper Laundry: Breastfeeding in Public Talent – I Haz It
Kim through the Looking Glass: Here? At the Restaurant?
GrudgeMom: Nursing in a Room Full of People You Know
MumUnplugged: Aww, Is He Sleeping?
Massachusetts Friends of Midwives: Nursing in Public: Chinatown, the Subway, the Vatican, and More
Mother Mary’s Soapbox: Breastfeeding My Newborn in Public
Tiny Grass: Nursing in Public as an Immigrant
Mommy News and Views: Tips for Nursing in Public
Blacktating: Thank You for Nursing in Public
Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog: Get Kicked off a Bus for Nursing in Public? Here’s How to Respond
Mama Knows Breast: Products That Can Help You Breastfeed in Public
BreastfeedingMums: Nursing in Public: What’s a Breastfeeding Mother to Do
Stork Stories: Little Old Men & Nursing in Public
Chronicles of a Nursing Mom: Why Worry about NIP?
Warm Hearts Happy Family: Breastfeeding and the Summertime
Musings on Mamahood: NIP, no tuck
babyREADY: A Wee NIP in the Park
Tales of Life with a Girl on the Go: Plains, Trains and Automobiles, We’ve Breastfed in Them All
Breastfeeding Moms Unite: Nursing in Public, A Fresh Perspective on Nurse-ins
Never a Dull Moment: A NIP Product Alternative: Breastfeeding Hats versus Traditional Nursing Covers
Hobo Mama: Easy, Discreet Way to Nurse a Toddler in Public

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3