I got to experience, first hand, the ugly side of breastfeeding during my vacation. The trip itself was fine, but the issues seemed more prevalent in the airport between destination and home.
Four separate women*, all who had children, made snarky comments or snide faces while I desperately tried to nurse my 5 month old daughter in peace. I kept myself tucked away in the back row of the terminal each time, calmly waiting to board my flight. I shrugged off most of these things, until a woman, very loudly, proclaimed, " Someone should just ask her to do that in the ladies' room, that's disgraceful!"
(Image used in the When Nurture Calls campaign, and completely correct)
Let me tell you, Mamas, I was every color red. Not from embarrassment, but anger.
I quickly shouted back, "You don't eat on the toilet, so why should she!?"
The woman stomped off, dragging her children and husband to the completely opposite side of the terminal. Other families followed.
The gate stewards ignored the verbal scuffle. After all, part of the Obamacare act was to give nursing mothers more rights: Rights at work (to pump), and rights outside of the home (to freely nurse in any facility). They didn't want to waste their time with a nursing mother who was allowed, BY LAW, to feed her child there.
It wasn't until afterwards, when Isabel was burped and handed off to Daddy, that I excused myself to the bathroom.
I locked myself into a stall and cried for a solid ten minutes. The only thought that came to mind was How Dare They?!
It's an awful feeling to be singled out by the people who should stick together in such a stressful environment. We Mamas need to support each other! How can we embrace a healthy lifestyle if all we can do is discriminate and ridicule? Maybe I'm just preaching to the choir, but if I saw another mom nursing like that, I'd whip out my cover, and go sit nearby, offering a smile and silent support. Because it's a grim outlook with all the ignorance of the general public.
The picture below is what I posted publicly on Instagram and Facebook. It's so lewd, right? Completely inappropriate. #sarcasm
*It did not seem to ruffle any of the nearby male patrons when I had to nurse my daughter. Most were under headphones or half awake. Only one looked at me, and that was because he was looking for a phone charger on the wall.
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