Robyn
Thank you for sending in the full story, and all the links. I knew
that your consistent and unwavering defence of military moms to
breastfeed their babies must have had something to do with this.
Being a tall poppy is always fraught with risk. The whole furore is
unbelievable, and clearly the regulations DO need to be clarified to
place children's well-being ahead of the mystique surrounding the
sanctity of the "uniform". Hang in there - we're with you, all
the way, @>---- and please continue to keep us up to date with what
happens on this vital issue.
Pamela
-----------------------------------
> 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-publicwhat-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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