Positive About Breastfeeding - Out and About

Thanks for hopping over from Visit from the Stork and welcome to my post for the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt Day 2 - Positive Public Feeding; we have over £700 worth of breastfeeding and baby goodies up for grabs, including prizes from Snoob; with a breastfeeding scarf, a goodie bag from Forever Patricia; and a breastfeeding necklace from Booby and the Bead. 
Full details of the Grand Prize can be found here; and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

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I have never had a negative experience breastfeeding in public. Yet, I have a number of friends who have experienced being told to leave premises, asked to feed in the toilets, and subjected to nasty comments and looks just because they are exercising their right, by law, to feed their babies when out and about. It's ridiculous, in this day and age, that this is still happening. Breastfeeding mothers are protected by the law! A friend recently told me that she was nervous about feeding in public - very early on she had had to stop breastfeeding her first baby, firstly expressing and then moving onto formula, so she had no experience of breastfeeding outside of her house. Fortunately for her, her first public feed was uneventful. I'm so glad, because that gave her the confidence to do it again and again. Since then, she has experienced judgemental stares, and people getting up to move their children away from her. And her baby is only 5 weeks old! Seriously! There is something incredibly wrong with a society that thinks it's acceptable to plaster sexually charged images of women showing their breasts - low cut tops, naked, etc. - everywhere for advertising the most unrelated products, and yet vilifies women who are feeding their children as nature intended.

Nursing In Public: It's Not All Bad

I'll feed anytime, anywhere!

It seems that every week or so there is another story of a breastfeeding mother told to cover up or feed in a toilet, or asked to leave or called a slut or worse for breastfeeding in public. We can be forgiven for trepidation at feeding our babies/toddlers when out and about. But, in all honesty, I haven't had a single negative experience of breastfeeding in public. I haven't had any super positive, applause-all-around type experiences either. It has always been a very ordinary activity. No one seems to be bothered or even aware. No funny looks, no snide comments, no disgusted muttering. And isn't that how it's meant to be? Normal, ordinary, a fact of life.

A Few Breastfeeding Memories - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

I have heard others talk of their negative experiences of breastfeeding in public - dirty looks, snide comments, being told to leave or feed baby in the toilets - but personally, every one of my nursing in public experiences has been positive. Perhaps I have been lucky, or maybe I just have a f**k-off look on my face! I wouldn't say I'm extremely discrete, but I always wear a vest under my top, so that I can pull one top up and the other down, showing as little breast as possible. I don't think it matters whether one pulls the top up or yanks the breast out, but I personally feel more comfortable keeping my bosoms more covered. We are protected by the Equality Act 2010 when breastfeeding in public anyway, so if anyone has a problem with you nursing in public, then it is their problem and not yours, and you are free to complain about them. Check out this info sheet for more advice.

Even princesses need their milk

There are a few humorous moments that have occurred during our breastfeeding journey. The first I remember was when B was about 5 weeks old and pulled off to smile at me. I managed to capture a photo of her lovely grin and sent it to my mum. As I was about to upload it to Facebook, I realised that my nipple was standing proud in the bottom corner of the picture, so I stopped the upload until I had time to crop it out. A few minutes later, whilst looking through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw my photograph, complete with nipple! My sister had posted it, not having noticed herself. Fortunately, she was quick to remove and crop when I pointed out the problem.