Hello Justin, NO, there are no situations in which a mother should not BF in public for the regards of others, and YES, those who prevent a mother from feeding her baby are violating the rights of the mother and her baby. Unless she is forbidden to feed artificially, she should not be forbidden to BF. The furor over public BF comes from our mistaken notion that women's breasts are ONLY sexual objects, and therefore should not be seen or used in public. It comes from our cultural fear of the intimate bonding of mother and baby (look at all the baby products designed to keep baby content alone, and all the emphasis on moms getting "away" or getting "a break" from the baby, etc...) and our mistrust of the ability of a woman's body to function correctly. It also comes from our cultural distaste for the body's natural functions; we think of women's bodies as inherently "unclean" on many levels. Finally, we fear powerful women; what is more powerful than sustaining another person's life?? Not to mention a woman sufficiently comfortable with her body's function to rely on it for that purpose? Dictating that a baby cannot eat to preserve some adult's delicate sensibilities (Yes, I am being sarcastic), when the adult can simply NOT LOOK and the baby has a real physical need to eat, is ridiculous. Sorry to give you a bit of a rant ;-), but that is my opinon. Thanks for the well stated and well referenced question!! Esther Friedman, IBCLC, RLC, LLLL www.firstgiving.com/tylermom There is no greater accomplishment than helping a child... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Justin Holweger" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 1:37 PM Subject: Breastfeeding in Public Hi, my name is Justin Holweger, and I am a junior nursing student at the University of North Dakota. Breastfeeding in public places has become an issue among breastfeeding mothers. Scott and Mostyn (2003) state that many breastfeeding mothers have encountered family members and friends openly stating their disapproval for breastfeeding in public. Tiedje (2001) conducted a study that showed how friends and families attitudes towards mother's who brestfeed in public affected wether the mother decided to brestfeed their baby in public settings anymore. Many of the mother's friend's described breastfeeding in public as nasty. Chang and Spatz (2006) state that more than half of the 50 states in the U.S. have laws that protect the rights of mother's to brestfeed in public. Other states have stipulations on when and where a mother can breastfeed. A few questions I have are as follows: Are there situations in which a mother should not breastfeed in public for the regards of others? Are the states that have stipulations on mothers that breastfeed in public violating a mother's personal rights and how about the child's rights? Thank you for any opinions you can provide for me. I look forward to hearing from you. Justin Holweger, SN University of North Dakota College of Nursing Chang, K., & Spatz, D.L., (2006). The family & breastfeeding laws: what nurses need to know. Maternal child nurse, 31, 224-230. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, inc. Scott, J.A., & Mostyn, T., (2003). Women's experiences of breastfeeding in a bottle-feeding culture. Sage, 19, 270-277. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from Journal of human lactation. Tiedje, L.B., (2001). Low-income mothr's views on brestfeeding. Maternal child nurse, 26, 55. Retrieved February 7, 2007, from Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, inc. *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html