by Brianna Richards

Created on: July 10, 2008

There is a popular saying among the midwives at our local hospital that says, "Breastfeeding in public is not a crime." It is jokingly placed beneath a picture depicting an incarcerated baby, obviously unaware he has done anything against the law. Despite the light-hearted approach by these women to the issue of public breastfeeding, many others would strive to negate this statement. As a new mother, I have unfortunately been witness to this attitude in only a month and a half of breastfeeding experience. My first attempt at feeding my son in public - the only way to calm him after several pricks from the nurse's needle - warranted several glares from other patients in my doctor's waiting room and a number of snide comments concerning my assisting mother. The only alternative? Feeding him in the sweltering heat of our vehicle outside or consoling him for the hour it would take to drive home.

For any breastfeeding mom, the early stages can be some of the most frustrating times of motherhood. Especially in the first months, feeding times often bring tears, frustration, and sometimes a sense of losing all dignity and decorum. What was once a hidden treasure has become - simply put - food. An infant knows nothing of societal etiquette, only the natural driving force of basic human needs. This can make breastfeeding all the more difficult when a public feeding is necessary, and establishes some arguments in opposition to public breastfeeding. Who can be modest when baby decides he wants to see rather than be covered while he enjoys his meal? This is all well and good in the privacy of the home but the family at the next table may not find it so adorable.

Only in the last few hundred years has society begun to place great emphasis on public decorum and propriety, creating a tendency toward a hostile approach to the natural choice of breastfeeding. Prior to this, society took a "nature calls" stand on breastfeeding - if the child was hungry he was fed, regardless of who was present. Nowadays, many mothers are scared away from choosing to breastfed in fear of having to feed in public.

Because of long-standing societal beliefs when it comes to women as wives, mothers, and members of society, it has been quite difficult to discretely breastfeed in public. For a time, it was frowned upon to breastfeed at all. Not until recent years have provisions been made for the breastfeeding woman, making it easier to feed her child in public without imposing on others. Washrooms designed

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