Support for mums breastfeeding in public
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Women are bombarded with a continuous flow of information regarding the virtues of breastfeeding. The whole topic of breastfeeding in public has attracted a lot of controversial comments too over the last few years. Under the new Equality Act, passed in April 2010, mums cannot be discriminated against, asked to leave a venue or treated unfavorably because they are breastfeeding when out and about in England and Wales. Of course, the NCT actively promote breastfeeding and one of many sources for advice and support on the matter.
At Freedom BabeTM, we support the premise that it is purely Mum's choice on how best to feed her baby and neither promote one way or the other.
Breastfeeding in public has to become part of the regime for any mum that wishes to successfully breastfeed. However, a recent survey of 1200 new Mums(1) showed that a staggering 65% felt so intimidated about feeding in public that they were not even going to attempt it. Amazingly, despite the legislation, half the mums said they'd been asked to leave the establishment and a third of them found the whole experience very stressful and 35% felt they needed to disappear into a toilet rather than breastfeed in public.
There are clearly a large number of mums who need support but currently find themselves in extremely difficult circumstances. Locking yourself and your baby in the toilet in a café or restaurant is not the only option. There are a number of different options available.
One of the most obvious options is to use some form of ‘cover up'; often in various fabric designs and degrees of complexity in their use. The discreet breastfeeding cover / apron by Freedom Babe is a breastfeeding cover that can be easily pulled out of the changing bag and placed over your body with one hand whilst leaving the other hand free to hold baby. The key aspect of the design is that it creates a secluded and intimate space for baby to feed and still allows mum to maintain eye contact with the baby throughout the feed.
The breastfeeding cover or apron, as they are sometimes called, has the additional benefit of preventing the baby from being distracted; especially from older children. The cover provides a secure environment which cocoons the baby from the outside world and helps to extend the time that the baby is likely to feed.
Products such as the breastfeeding cover / apron could be classed as a much needed aid or stepping stone to give mums confidence in those early days.
Dawn Callery
