I have been following the discussion about nurse-ins with great interest.
This entire experience has been enlightening for me, on many different
levels. I went into this with one opinion, but have come out on the other
end with very different feelings on the matter. 
 
I don't like the concept of nurse-ins, and I did not attend this one. I will
absolutely admit to being dismayed that a nurse-in was being staged; visions
of chanting, sign-waving, topless women were dancing in my head! But the
event yesterday was more of a nurse-out in both its intentions and its
results. These mothers didn't want to storm the stores with signs and
megaphones; they wanted to make the point that nursing mothers deserve to be
treated with the same respect as any other customer, to educate both the
public and the employees, and I believe they accomplished that goal. I think
they have a great deal to be proud of today.
 
The articles that I am reading are beautiful. A lone mother showed up at a
Warwick, RI mall:
http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20060702_nursein.1709b25.html . What
guts that took! And there are countless other mothers who were the sole
nursers at their chosen location, but they knew that all across the country,
other women were standing beside them emotionally. They breastfed their
babies with grace and dignity and pride. They set an example. 
 
The mother who was told to leave Victoria's Secret in Boston is an
acquaintance of mine. I have tried my best to offer Jessie help and advice
during the past couple of weeks. I have only a little experience with
lactivism, but she came to me looking for support and counsel and I gave her
what I could. Jessie was aware of the "breastfeeding in public" bill
(H-1782) that has died twice before in Massachusetts, and was determined to
try to use her experience to help rally support for it. She is young and
inexperienced but passionate, and she truly wants to do good and make
positive changes.
 
The members of the Mothering boards took her in with open arms. They gave
her advice, asked questions, made phone calls, wrote letters and yes, they
pulled together a national nurse-in. Here in  Massachusetts, that
breastfeeding bill was languishing in committee; by all reports, it was set
to die yet again on June 30th. But the Mothering mamas swung into action. We
gave them clear and simple instructions on who to call and what to say about
the bill. Mothers started posting to the board - "I made my calls! They
listened to me! And I sent my email out to everyone in my playgroup!" And
the legislators listened to those mothers. The Judiciary Committee reported
out favorably on H-1782 on Friday afternoon!
 
As Janice Reynolds said, "It is no small feat to gather your child, face
public criticism, contact media and do interviews." But Jessie and her
fellow Mothering mamas did this and more. I believe Jessie deserves
significant credit for rescuing the Massachusetts bill, because she wouldn't
just walk away from this. No, it wasn't a clear-cut, text-book perfect case
of a mother being discriminated against for nursing in public. But it put a
national spotlight on the issue of breastfeeding in public nevertheless.
It's got people talking. And Victoria's Secret is setting a great example
for any businesses who might be paying attention - they welcomed the
breastfeeding mothers, educated their employees and in some cases even told
mall security to back off and leave the nursing mothers alone. 
 
I was disappointed by the lack of support Jessie received from professionals
in the field. I counseled her to contact specific individuals and
organizations for advice; they have more experience than I in these matters,
I told her, and they could give you some ideas on how to approach lawmakers
and so on. Most ignored her completely. The single response she did receive
was ultimately dismissive, and failed to address the concerns she raised.
Despite the unwillingness of these professionals to help, Jessie still
managed to figure things out and get things done. 
 
It's easy to sit up on the high horse and say that the case is flimsy and
the mothers are off-base in their response. Lord knows I'm guilty of it
myself.  But aren't we always saying we should meet the mothers where they
are? If a mom wants to breastfeed for only three months and then wean, I may
not like it, but I will still give her counseling. I don't say, Forget it,
it's exclusive for at least a year or I'm not giving you a minute of my
time. I believe  the same standard applies in the case of a mother like
Jessie, who comes for advice on how to help get a bill made into law. Her
case isn't picture perfect, but I still tell her how to figure out who her
state reps are and what to say when she calls. I have knowledge she doesn't,
and I share what I know with her.  Isn't that my job? Don't we at least owe
them that?
 
 
Ali Crehan Feeney, CLC
Quincy, MA 
http://lactiferous.blogspot.com <http://lactiferous.blogspot.com/> 
 

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