Somewhere between the “Baby on Board” warning sign and the “Honor Student” bumper sticker lies this awesome car decal: “Lucky Breastfed Baby on Board.” I wonder whether this is a one-off or some place is actually selling these!

Today at the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California, a relatively small group of dedicated lactivists showed up while nearly 2,000 people were there with them in spirit at the virtual nurse-in on Facebook itself. Jill Asher of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog headed over to Palo Alto to film the following video of the nurse-in. My favorites are the interview with the organizer’s mother-in-law, Sheri Farley, mother of eight breastfed children and grandmother to 19 breastfed grandchildren out of 20 total, and the interview with one of the fathers in attendance.

Local newspaper The Mercury News also reported on the …read more

It has been over a year since Facebook began removing breastfeeding pictures and threatening users with being banned from the site. At last check, the Facebook group “Hey, Facebook, Breastfeeding is not obscene!” had over 57,000 members (including me). Now organizers of that group have planned an event for Saturday, December 27, 2008, the M.I.L.C. Mothers International Lactation Campaign.
Virtual Nurse-In
Organizers explain:
Facebook continues to classify breastfeeding photos as obscene content. They continue to arbitrarily remove these photos from member albums and profiles, accompanied by warnings of account termination. This is highly discriminatory and an affront to nursing mothers everywhere. In protest …read more

While I have not heard official word from the mothers involved in the rally, readers Kate and Kelly both alerted me to an excellent article at Parent Central. Susan Pigg reports:
Fearing that dozens of angry lactivists might show up at her pool, Karkouti contacted York Regional Police.
When it became clear they had no intention of sending uniformed officers, she says, Karkouti hired $400 worth of her own protection – four security guards who kept the 20 or so protesters, many of them children, at bay.
“I guess that’s what they come with,” Karkouti said yesterday of the Kevlar-clad guards. “I …read more

Baby Milk Action is planning Nestle-Free Week surrounding this coming October 4, 2008. For more on the why, when and how of the Nestle Boycott and Nestle-Free Week in particular, visit Baby Milk Action’s Nestle-Free Week planning page.

A few months ago my kindergartner took a field trip to a farm. She came home excited to tell me all about how the baby cows are separated from the mama cows so the farmer can collect the cows’ milk for humans to drink. When I expressed my horror at little calf nurslings being separated from their mothers, my daughter insisted, “But it’s okay, Mom! They get powdered milk and they love it! I got to feed a baby cow a bottle and she sucked it right down!” I tried to wrap my head around the irony of baby cows …read more

Breastmilk: 100% nutrition in a handy little package.
– as seen on a CafePress.com bumper sticker for sale (no affiliation to Breastfeeding 1-2-3)

Breastmilk: It’s not a choice. It’s a birthright!
– as seen on a CafePress.com button for sale (no affiliation to Breastfeeding 1-2-3)

Earlier this year the American Public Health Association (APHA) released a summary of its most recent public health policies. One policy, adopted in late 2007, recognizes “Breastfeeding as a fundamental public health issue.” The APHA breastfeeding policy summary states that the policy:
Affirms that exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life with continued breastfeeding for at least the first one or two years of life is the biological norm, and that all alternative feeding methods carry health risks in comparison, with rare exceptions. Recognizes that breastfeeding is viewed as a public health issue and insists that maternal and child …read more

The Vermont Human Rights Commission ruled today that Freedom Airlines discriminated against nursing mother Emily Gillette when a flight attendant asked Gillette to cover up while breastfeeding and had her removed from the flight when she refused to do so. The parties now have a six-month period in which to attempt to negotiate a settlement. If a settlement is not reached, the Commission could file a civil suit against Freedom Airlines. Gillette’s lawyer Beth Boepple has been quoted as saying:
What the Human Rights Commission does with it and how they decide to fashion a remedy once we get past …read more