Breastfeeding in Public

Many women shy away from breastfeeding in public, or avoid it completely.  Some women worry about receiving negative comments from strangers.  Others worry about being able to breastfeed in public without showing too much flesh.  Breastfeeding in public should be made as easy as possible for women and they should be able to feel comfortable feeding their baby wherever the need should arise.

Breast milk is the perfect food for a human baby containing all the nutrients that baby needs, as well as giving baby increased immunity. There are also numerous benefits for the mother, including a reduced risk of breast cancer and osteoporosis.

The more that women are seen breastfeeding in public, the more “normal” a sight it will become. People’s attitudes towards breasts needs to change. People need to consider women’s breasts not as sexual objects, but what they actually are – a way for a mother to nourish her baby.

It is very easy for a woman to breastfeed her baby discreetly in public without any flesh on show. In fact many people would walk past a breastfeeding woman and not notice. However, they would certainly notice an upset baby if its mother was not allowed to feed it in public. Not allowing mothers to breastfeed in public would restrict them greatly. Breast fed babies feed on demand so the need for a mother to feed her baby could arise at any time, in any place. A nursing mother is not able to plan her daily activities around a baby’s feeding times. If a baby is hungry while its mother is out shopping then the mother needs to be able to feed the baby there and then without delay.

Of course some will argue that a woman can still give her baby breast milk by expressing it at home and feeding it to her baby using a bottle. But a woman shouldn’t have to go to all the extra effort of expressing milk, buying a breast pump and bottles and having to clean and sterilise it all, when she has the most efficient method of delivering milk to her baby with her at all times – and the milk is delivered at the perfect temperature!

Education is the key to changing people’s attitudes towards breastfeeding. It is not just pregnant women and new mothers who should be told about the amazing benefits of breastfeeding, but everyone. Children should be taught about it in school. It should not be a subject to be embarrassed about, but openly talked about. Women should feel free to feed their babies wherever they are, without shame or embarrassment, and should be encouraged to do so.