1511cf66_all_To_Action_on_Breastfeeding__Topic
[ID] 97 [Interest Areas] Concerned Citizen Health Care Provider [Comment] There needs to be greater support for breastfeeding out in public. The reality is that all babies eat frequently, breastfed babies usually more so. If women feel that they need to retreat to their cars or often dirty public restrooms to nurse, their inclination will be to stop nursing or never start to begin with. It is too inconvenient. And it sends the message that when we feed our children at the breast, it is shameful somehow and should only be done behind closed doors. I have breastfed all 3 of my children for over a year. For the first 6 months of life before they can yet receive solid food, that has meant nursing in public at times. I am comfortable with it and think of it as not much different than giving a bottle. Out of respect for others' potential discomfort with public nursing, I have learned to be quite discreet (meaning that some people may realize I am nursing, but no onlookers are seeing my breast), but I have nonethless been the target of occasional unpleasant comments and many, many unpleasant looks. I also find that even close friends who have breastfed their children and very intelligent people with no children give me a look when they learn that I am breastfeeding a 14 month old. It's as if they think that my toddler or I are deriving sexual pleasure from nursing at that point. I find it confounding. I think much of this discomfort and hostility is related to the oversexualization of the female breast in our culture. The breast is portrayed, first and foremost, as such an object for men's viewing and playing pleasure that many have difficulty moving past that to realize that it is also the source of optimal nutrition for our offspring. More magazine ads, TV ads, and billboards that show the same amount of breast we routinely see in bikini ads and movies, but with a nursing baby latched on, would go a long way in fixing this problem. It just involves changing our culture's associations with the breast. [Topic] 
Support for Breastfeeding in Public Settings
Call To Action on Breastfeeding
Topic