Sunday, December 18, 2005

Do you find breastfeeding offensive? (Independent Online)

Do you find breastfeeding offensive?

If you do, tough. New laws will make breastfeeding in public every mother's right.

The National Gallery has nearly 50 paintings and portraits featuring bare breasts on its walls, including a Tintoretto entitled Origin of the Milky Way.

But when Catherine Gulati settled discreetly into a corner to breastfeed her 11-month-old baby during a visit to the gallery last year, she was ordered by an attendant to stop. Now that the notion of breast is best is accepted wisdom, Parliament is considering changing the law to make it illegal to prevent a mother from feeding her child in public.

Ministers are preparing to follow the example of Scotland, where the law was changed last year, and legislate for the right of women to breastfeed their babies in a public place.

The legal change would cover all public spaces, from parks to shopping malls and even shops. But Parliament - including the House of Commons chamber - would not be covered by the law because it is a Royal Palace.

The rethink by ministers follows an outcry over women who have been prevented from feeding their babies by restaurateurs, policemen and members of the public. Even some doctors' surgeries have banned breastfeeding in their waiting rooms. Pro-breastfeeding groups, including the National Childbirth Trust, say that the anxiety about being stopped in public is putting many mothers off - and encouraging them to bottle-feed instead.

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