Breastfeeding in Public - Yay or Nay?

Prior to becoming a mom, I didn't give much thought to public breastfeeding. It was just something I felt a tad uncomfortable with for myself and I never thought I would have to do it. Fast-forward to baby's arrival and getting back to our normal lives where we had to go out sometimes, I found myself having to breastfeed in public (with a nursing cover). But as the baby grew, she started to feel uncomfortable under the covers, pushing it away while nursing - so, the next option  was bottle feeding for us. Initially, it was a struggle to get her to feed on the bottle but she did with time.

I remember this one experience when we had to get her passport done in Lagos and she became so restless because the weather was so hot and we had been in line for more than 2 hours (the server was down). I knew she wasn't hungry but she just wanted comfort-sucking to put her to sleep. I had a lot of older women criticizing me for not whipping out my breast to feed her at that time. I later found a comfortable place away from the view of all the men and women also waiting in line to feed my baby. I was criticized for not wanting to feed in public but Adanna was recently 'shamed' for doing the exact opposite in Mallorca, Spain.

Adanna Steinacker, popular Vlogger recently put up a post on Instagram that caught my attention. She needed to breastfeed her baby Kian at a restaurant and she did. She's of the opinion that women should own their bodies and not be shamed into not breastfeeding in public. Read what she said below:

"Moments before David took this candid photo of me nursing Kian at a restaurant, I had the most unfriendly stare from a couple across the table. I'm sure what they meant to say to me was: 'Did you seriously just whip out your boobs? Here? In public? That's just rude!' Of course they didn't say anything to me because if at all they understood body language, mine said 'Don't you dare'

Not too long ago I remember making excuses like: 'it's not convenient to breastfeed there' and I would pump milk to feed Kian from a bottle whenever we were in public. I've had situations where I've tried to use large blankets to cover him while nursing, and that almost always ends up in a disaster because he doesn't like to be covered when he feeds and then he struggles and I end up spraying breast milk all over the both of us. Let's just say the blanket thing doesn't work for us.

I've had to ask myself recently, what is so unnatural about a mother nursing her child 'in public'? It's not like I walk around with my breasts hanging out.

I've not heard of an adult who is hungry and has food in front of him say 'it's not convenient for me to eat here' or 'I need to be more discrete with this food I'm about to eat' actually 'I'm gonna eat this burger under a blanket'

If a woman wishes to bottle feed her child (breastmilk or formula), it should be because she chose to, for her own personal reasons. Not because she's worried about being harassed when she pulls out her breast to nurse her child in a public place.

It's a pity that most people will visually complement a woman with huge breasts and cleavage and yet call a woman nursing in public 'disgusting'. As much as the right to breastfeed in public is protected by law in most countries, unfortunately nursing mothers are still exposed to both the spoken and unspoken distaste for the sight of a baby with a nipple in their mouth. 

Seeing something over and over is the best way to normalise it. So I urge every breastfeeding woman to boldly and confidently nurse your child in public if you need to. Be proud. We can change the perception of society one person at a time! #NursingInPublic #MyBreastMyChild #AwarenessCampaign #RaisingAwareness"

I think she has a point. What do you think? Are you comfortable nursing in public? Or is this a case of 'doomed if you do and doomed if you don't'? Let's discuss.

Photo credit: Instagram.com/adanna_david