I will be the guest on a radio phone-in Talk Show tomorrow (monday) afternoon.  This was initiated by the media interest created by the launch of the Moms For Milk "Everyday Breastfeeding" Photo Contest, which is now being run in 2 provinces, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. (BTW, we've had alot of media interest, and good interviews so far).

Anyhow, the phone-in topic will probably be about breastfeeding in public, I assume.  I've done a couple interviews already, and have listened to several phone-in shows on the same topic before, so I feel sort of prepared to do this.

However, I often hear "but some women just don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in public"  "I'm a very private person, I never would do it", etc.

I am thinking of using this type of response to that statement, do you think this sounds okay?

"My telling an individual woman to nurse in public, would be just as wrong as a person telling a certain women to NOT breastfeed in public.  The woman should do what she feels comfortable with.  BUT, we, as a society should recognize that women ARE being sent the message that its NOT okay to breastfeed in public.  I have personal experience and have heard many women's stories of being asked DIRECTLY by friends, family or strangers to move to a more private area to breastfeed.  This makes a woman very embarrassed of what they are doing.  Women are also INDIRECTLY sent the message that breastfeeding in public is NOT okay, by the mere fact that they NEVER or RARELY see women breastfeeding in public.  

But to be fair to the non-breastfeeding public, if THEY have never seen a woman breastfeeding in public, of course the message THEY have received, too, is that breastfeeding in public must not be okay, or else they would see women doing it?

So we must be aware of the attitudes we have about breastfeeding, and the messages we are directly or indirectly sending to breastfeeding women.  We are being very unfair to women when we, as a society agree that women should breastfeed, and the medical professionals tell them to do it, and then, with our words and actions, sentence them to solitary confinement in their bedrooms at home, or to bathrooms or cars while in public.

(BTW, this show will only be heard in SK - and our intitiation rates are around 90%, and we have one year maternity leaves and benefits.  So its duration that we are working on improving, thats why breastfeeding in public is so important.)

Thanks for your comments,
Janice Reynolds
Founder, Moms For Milk Breastfeeding Network  

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