Here you go..................
Md. Moms Say No to Coverup at Starbucks
Women Push Chain for Policy Allowing Public Breast-Feeding in All U.S.
Stores
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 9, 2004; Page B03
Carrying infants in slings and car seats, about 30 mothers gathered at a
Silver Spring Starbucks Coffee shop yesterday to nurse lattes -- and their
babies.
Along with the babies' fathers, grandmothers and friends -- about 100 in
all -- they came to lobby the global corporation to declare that mothers can
breast-feed publicly in the chain's coffeehouses.
Emmaleigh cuddles with mom as sister Bayleigh, 6, pretends to
nurse a doll. (Andrea Bruce Woodall - The Washington Post)
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The event was organized by Lorig Charkoudian, a conflict resolution trainer
from Silver Spring who was inspired after a store employee asked her to
cover up or go into the ladies' room while nursing her 15-month-old
daughter, Aline, last month.
"I don't put blankets over my daughter's head because it's uncomfortable for
her. If I did, she'd scream and bother everybody," Charkoudian said. "And I
think it's disgusting to ask anyone to eat in the bathroom."
In Maryland, the mothers have the law on their side: An act passed in 2003
prohibits restricting mothers from breast-feeding their children in public.
A spokeswoman for Starbucks wrote in an e-mail that the company follows
local laws and plans to reemphasize Maryland's ordinance to employees.
"We will instruct our Maryland store partners to inform any concerned
customer that by Maryland law, mothers have the right to breast-feed in
public and to suggest to the customer that they either avert their eyes or
move to a different location within the store," spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff
wrote.
But Charkoudian, who got a similar message when she wrote to the company,
said that is not enough. She is pushing the company to adopt a nationwide
policy.
To support the effort, she's launched a Web site, nurseatstarbucks.com.
There, mothers can download a letter to send to Starbucks chief executive
Orin C. Smith on behalf of their babies. "Sometimes [my mother] goes to
Starbucks. When she does, I don't want to have to starve," the letter reads
in part.
Focusing on the company is a smart move because so many young mothers
frequent the stores, said Elizabeth Zifcak, 33, of Kensington, who attended
yesterday's "nurse-in" with her two children. Like many at the event, Zifcak
said she heard about the protest from a parents' e-mail group.
"If you look at the clientele during business hours, you'll find a lot of
young mothers with children who come to congregate and talk," she said. "If
they want to continue to attract this clientele, they need to change their
policies."
State laws on the issue vary. Some states have none, some mention it only in
exempting nursing mothers from jury duty, others say where breast-feeding
must be allowed.
In Virginia, mothers can nurse in all public buildings, and breast-feeding
is specifically exempted from the commonwealth's indecent exposure law.
Private establishments, however, are not required to allow it.
Lincoff wrote that Starbucks does not have a national policy and that she
would not speculate about whether that might change.
At the Starbucks on Cherry Hill Road yesterday, older children sprawled on
the sidewalk playing with dolls and building blocks, while the moms held up
signs advertising their cause -- "Lactate with a Latte" read one -- and
swapped stories. One woman recalled being asked to move to a fitting room
while nursing at a nearby Target store, prompting a chorus of dismayed
comments from the others.
"Let's go there next!" said Dawn Davenport-Coven, a District mother who said
she feels so strongly about teaching her daughters the importance of
breast-feeding that she said she not-so-accidentally "loses" baby bottles
that come with dolls she gives her 3-year-old.
Other customers who drifted into the Starbucks took the group's fliers on
the benefits of breast-feeding. Only a few offered the nursing mothers
sidelong glances as they made their way to the counter.
At the coffee bar inside, Kalen Johnson, 19, who described himself as a
regular at the store, said Charkoudian's demonstration was an "overreaction"
to the employee's reasonable request.
"In a place where I'm eating or drinking, that's the last thing I want to
see," he said.
But the mothers maintain that breast-feeding is only natural.
"When women breast-feed, you see less breast than you do in the average
Coors Light ad," Charkoudian said. "The breast is doing what it's designed
to do."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robyn Roche-Paull" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: Md. Moms Say No to Coverup at Starbucks
Can someone post the entire article for those of us not able to 'see' it on
the web?
Thank you,
Robyn Roche-Paull
LLL San Diego
***************************************************************
Proud Military Wife to Stephen (10 years)
Mom to Morgan (8)
Siobhan (5)
Tiernan (1)
***************************************************************
Breastfeeding: An American Family Value
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 11:39:18 -0400
From: Kathy & Paul Koch <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Md. Moms Say No to Coverup at Starbucks
From today's Washington Post...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50610-2004Aug8.html
Snip...
Md. Moms Say No to Coverup at Starbucks
Women Push Chain for Policy Allowing Public Breast-Feeding in All U.S.
Stores
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 9, 2004; Page B03
Carrying infants in slings and car seats, about 30 mothers gathered at a
Silver Spring Starbucks Coffee shop yesterday to nurse lattes -- and their
babies.
Along with the babies' fathers, grandmothers and friends -- about 100 in all
-- they came to lobby the global corporation to declare that mothers can
breast-feed publicly in the chain's coffeehouses.
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