Robyn, thank you for sharing your blog post. I loved you comment about
bottle feeding while in uniform.
Can anyone comment on what other militaries around the world to in regards
to breastfeeding or bottle feeding while in uniform?
Kim Ann
In a message dated 6/2/2012 12:35:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
On Jun 2, 2012, at 1:11 PM, LACTNET automatic digest system wrote:
> Breastfeeding photos of military moms stir debate
>
> Oh dear, with two months to go, the bad press which always
> accompanies WBW has started already :-( See, breastfeeding photos
> of military moms stir debate, articles in BBC News, Fox News, and
Statesman:
I want to clarify a few things about this...
The photos were taken as part of a breastfeeding campaign for Fairchild
AFB in Washington State, to help increase the rates of breastfeeding among
the civilian and military mothers stationed there.
I asked permission from the coordinator and photographer if I could use
the photograph on my blog as part of a posting about how the military does
NOT support breastfeeding, in part because women are not allowed to
breastfeed in uniform (well, there are no actual specific policies stating if it is
OK or not, very grey...)
Here is the post I made which outlines my points clearly (don't read the
comments, your blood pressure will sky rocket!):
http://breastfeedingincombatboots.com/2012/05/forget-breastfeeding-publicwha
t-about-uniform/
Between my blog and the photos, it went viral on Facebook over Memorial
Day weekend (a huge military-themed holiday here in the US) and the media
caught ahold of it Tuesday morning and it went wild. There have been a few
well-done articles, and many more that are negative and/or are skewing the
facts.
Here is one article that is well-done and features some Active Duty moms
talking about their experiences breastfeeding in uniform:
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/06/01/060112-news-breastfeeding-in-uniform
-1-3/
The comments on my blog at least have been running about 50/50 as to
whether it is OK to breastfeed in uniform with the discussion veering off into
public breastfeeding, sexualization of the breasts, women don't belong in
the military, how breastfeeding undermines authority of female officers, and
how breastfeeding in the military in effect ruins all the hard work that
women have faced to be seen as equals in the military. The issue of the
professionalism and maintaining a proper military bearing, or being out of
uniform while breastfeeding also tops the list.
Meanwhile mothers in uniform don't have a place to pump, are told to go
sit in a restroom to feed their babies when at a medical appointment, or that
they need to bottle-feed the baby while in uniform if they are together.
This is a simple fix....change the regulations to allow breastfeeding in
uniform. The Dept of Defense would be wise to do so as supporting
breastfeeding will help them to maintain mission readiness, increase retention rates,
decrease military healthcare costs and more. It just makes sense from an
economic and health standpoint.
I hope that the recent attention that this has caused will, in the end, be
positive and bring much needed change to the policies and regulations
currently in place for breastfeeding mothers in the military. What I am afraid
will happen is that a crack-down will occur instead and the breastfeeding
mothers and babies will be the ones to suffer.
Robyn Roche-Paull
B.S., IBCLC, USN Veteran
Award-Winning Author & Founder ~ Breastfeeding in Combat Boots
www.breastfeedingincombatboots.com
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