Parenting Blog

Breastfeeding is the best option for your baby, and doctors agree that infants should be breastfed through the first year of their life. Many women, however, find it difficult to fit breastfeeding into their demanding lifestyles. It doesn’t help that many people’s opinion of women who breastfeed in public is less than positive. In a society that displays lewd images of sexuality everywhere in the media, the majority of people disapprove of an image of a woman feeding her child on television. Mothers should understand their rights so they are able to defend themselves against an unaccepting public.

Breastfeeding is, in legal terms, not considered a display of nudity or an indecent exposure, but even women who cover their bodies with blankets when breastfeeding are subject to unpleasant stares. Every state legally protects the right of mothers to feed their child in public. In fact, in some states, a business can be penalized for not allowing a woman to breastfeed in their facility. Though they have legal protection, many mothers refrain from breastfeeding in public because of rude comments from surrounding people. Residents of Kansas can carry a government-issued card outlining the legal rights of a breastfeeding mother, and the Parenting magazine website provides a similar card for mothers residing anywhere in the United States.

Doctors are concerned about this issue because studies have shown that women are breastfeeding their children for significantly less than the recommended year. This is partly because women have such demanding lifestyles. Countries like Sweden require businesses to offer a year of leave to both the mother and father when their baby is born; the United States offers only women a maximum of six weeks. After the six weeks, the company is legally free to hire someone else to take the woman’s place. The majority of American families depend on both parents’ incomes, and for single-parent or poverty-level families, it’s usually not possible for the mother to take even those six weeks. It then becomes difficult for women to pump their milk while working, as this is a time-consuming task and a private facility is not always available.

Many factors contribute to the fact that women are not able to breastfeed as long as they want to, and many changes would have to take place for our society to truly provide for the needs of mothers. Public disapproval of breastfeeding is just one of the many challenges new mothers must face, but if you understand your rights, you can easily counter the rudeness and do what’s best for you and your baby.