In the style section---
NAMES & FACES

Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page C03

The Milk of Bookstore Kindness?

Hell hath no fury like a nursing mother scorned, something the managers of
Barnes & Noble found out when a gaggle of newly minted mommies descended
on the downtown D.C. store.

It seems that one recent Sunday afternoon, Shannan Higgins was breast-
feeding her 8-week-old son when she was asked by a store employee to leave
the children's section and resume feeding her newborn in the ladies' room.
Higgins was "mortified and offended," she told us, but complied with the
request. A week later, she shared her tale with friends who, outraged,
ended up organizing a public protest against the chain.

Last Thursday, 45 nursing mothers, cradling their newborns, demonstrated
their solidarity by publicly nursing their children on the sales floor.

A few men even showed up -- hey, who says you have to be able to breast-
feed in order to support this cause?

And it was a smashing success, especially when "the manager finally came
out and explained that the employee made a mistake and that, in fact,
breast-feeding is permitted in every part of the Barnes & Noble store,"
event organizer Alli Gersch told us. (Attempts to reach the store manager
were unsuccessful.)

"And after a while, someone even brought us cookies," Gersch said. As "a
bunch of breast-feeding moms, we're always happy to eat cookies."

Where was the woman who started it all? Higgins was home, taking care of
her sick son.
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I loved that they reported that men were there to support the cause.  It
brings attention to the fact that the whole community should be supporting
breastfeeding.

Charity M. Pitcher-Cooper, BSN, RN

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