Editorial in Brockton Enterprise

There's a great editorial piece in today's Brockton Enterprise on the breastfeeding bill which is currently in play here in Massachusetts.

If you're so inclined, let them know you appreciate the opinion!

Breastfeeding in mealtime, comfort (Central Kentucky News Journal)

I am responding to an article written by Linda Ireland titled "Debating the public and private domain."

Do you know this woman? Have you ever met her or her child? How do you know that she could have covered up? Perhaps, her experience with her baby tells her that her baby would simply have began crying or thrown the blanket off, making it futile. Are you aware that many babies like to look around or into the eyes of their mother while they eat, that they will not nurse if covered up? For some, the blanket is a distraction. Are you aware that nursing comforts a fussy child?

Should she, instead, have allowed her child to scream and cry during the entire flight, just to avoid flashing an unsuspecting passenger? Are you aware that nursing lessens the painful popping sensation of the ears during take off and landing, that a child who is sucking on something is less apt to holler as a result of the discomfort? Are you aware that prolonged pacifier and bottle use can cause dental problems and interfere with milk supply?


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Nursing is normal and not something to hide (Central Kentucky News Journal)

Linda Ireland recently wrote an editorial responding to the New Mexico mother expulsion from a Freedom Airlines flight on Monday, Dec. 4.

As a nursing mother myself, I am offended and appalled that Ireland compared the act of breastfeeding to mouth-breathing and belching.

Nursing a child is normal and not something to be hidden in shame or done in the bathroom.

Ireland suggested that all nursing mothers carry blankets just in case someone around them gets offended. Well, here's a newsflash for you: someone will be offended whether we cover or not.


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Instant Messages (Chicago Sun-Times)

On Monday, Sun-Times columnist Laura Berman wrote about a "nurse-in" protest of Delta Air Lines after the carrier booted off a female passenger for breast-feeding; Berman urged social support for women who need to breast- feed in public. Readers responded:

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No modesty (Patriot News)

Whatever happened to modesty? Why do women think, just because they're nursing a baby, that they can let it hang out?

Not everyone wants to look at a breast. I'm tired of being bombarded with naked bodies and breasts.



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Breastfeeding simply requires some modesty (Statesman Journal)

This is regarding the article about the woman removed from the plane because she refused to cover herself while nursing her child.

I know that breastfeeding is natural and wonderful for both mother and child, and I agree. However, it is not unreasonable that the woman cover herself for her modesty and those around her.



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Engage in some modesty when breast-feeding (The Leaf-Chronicle)

After reading an article in the paper titled "Nursing moms support women taken off plane," I was simply appalled.

This woman was taken off the plane not because she was breast-feeding but because she refused to cover up.

I support breast-feeding to the fullest. I have three children of my own, and I breast-fed all of them up to one year old, but never did I feel the need to bare myself to the public.

When I breast-fed in a public place, I always covered up, for my own comfort as much as for everyone else's comfort.



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Breastfeeding campaign offers legitimate advice (Elmira Star-Gazette)

Kathleen Costello wrote in an Oct. 2 column that the "use of scare-tactics and negative advertising is inaccurate and irresponsible," in regard to the breastfeeding campaign. This campaign is not irresponsible. Let's take the in-your-face, anti-smoking campaign. It goes to extremes to get the message across that you should stop smoking. Where are the complaints about the smoking campaign?


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Critics of nursing in public reveal hypocrisy (USA Today)

I am part of a small percentage of women who are commercial airline pilots. I am also a wife, mother and strong supporter and advocate of mothers who choose to breast-feed their children ("Nursing mom files complaint against airlines," News, Nov. 17).

In all my years of traveling about in public, I have never seen a nursing mother willingly expose herself to feed her child.

Yet, I can spot a nursing mother and child from across a crowded room because I am drawn to the beauty of the bonding between mother and child. I often flash a smile of support or offer words of encouragement because I know firsthand that nursing does not always come naturally or easily for all who attempt it — yet that mother has chosen to take the healthier choice of nourishing her child.



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Readers speak out about breastfeeding (The News Tribune)

The News Tribune of Washington state invited comment from readers about breastfeeding. Having just heard about The View's latest attack on breastfeeding mothers, I found these letters the perfect antidote.

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