Sunday
Jul132008
Despite a breastfeeding rate of over 90%, there is still work to be done educating people
Sunday, July 13, 2008
In Ontario, more than 90% of babies are breastfed and human rights legislation protects their right to breastfeed anytime, anywhere. However, there is still a lot of work to be done in educating the public and service providers about the rights of breastfed babies and breastfeeding mothers. From the Guelph Examiner:
Read the whole article Questionable Judgment by Rob O'Flanagan in the Guelph Examiner.
In Ontario, women have the right to breastfeed their babies whenever and wherever they want. They do not have to be discreet, they do not have to move out of public view, they do not have to cover up, and anyone that asks them to is making an illegal request. In fact, in Ontario, women even have the right to walk around topless in public places (although most people don't seem to know this). Women that are asked to move or to cover up can file a human rights complaint.
Despite being somewhat comforted by the protection that is afforded to me in human rights legislation, I want more than that. I want greater understanding of the rights of breastfeeding women and breastfed babies. Although strange looks are few and far between, I do still get them. Although at home I usually pull down my shirt to breastfeed, in public I feel that I should pull it up so that I expose less of my breast. This is because society is not yet accepting enough of the fact that breastfeeding is normal.
Anytime, anywhere...that is what we have the right to.
The City of Toronto has recognized that service providers are not doing enough to make breastfeeding women feel comfortable and they have been implementing a breastfeeding friendly campaign across city restaurants. I find it sad that this is necessary, but since a lot of people grew up in a home where breastfeeding was not the norm, staff might not be aware of what is normal when it comes to breastfeeding. From that perspective, I think that training staff, especially young people, will make society more aware and hopefully also make them feel more comfortable nursing in public when they become parents.
"We were just sitting at the edge of the pool with our feet in the water," Buck said of the incident that happened last Sunday at the pool. Her five-year-old daughter was playing in the water, and her five-month-old was in her arms. Baby got hungry.
"I took down one side and gave her something to eat," Buck said. "After about a minute, a lifeguard approached us. She said, 'We don't allow that here. You have to take that into the change room.' "
A confrontation ensued, according to Buck, who admits she responded angrily to the request.
"I said, 'By 'that' do you mean breastfeeding?' And she said, 'Yes, we try to enforce a family-friendly environment, so you will have to take that into the change room.' That's when I asked her if she was aware that she had just made an illegal request."
Read the whole article Questionable Judgment by Rob O'Flanagan in the Guelph Examiner.
In Ontario, women have the right to breastfeed their babies whenever and wherever they want. They do not have to be discreet, they do not have to move out of public view, they do not have to cover up, and anyone that asks them to is making an illegal request. In fact, in Ontario, women even have the right to walk around topless in public places (although most people don't seem to know this). Women that are asked to move or to cover up can file a human rights complaint.
Despite being somewhat comforted by the protection that is afforded to me in human rights legislation, I want more than that. I want greater understanding of the rights of breastfeeding women and breastfed babies. Although strange looks are few and far between, I do still get them. Although at home I usually pull down my shirt to breastfeed, in public I feel that I should pull it up so that I expose less of my breast. This is because society is not yet accepting enough of the fact that breastfeeding is normal.
Anytime, anywhere...that is what we have the right to.
The City of Toronto has recognized that service providers are not doing enough to make breastfeeding women feel comfortable and they have been implementing a breastfeeding friendly campaign across city restaurants. I find it sad that this is necessary, but since a lot of people grew up in a home where breastfeeding was not the norm, staff might not be aware of what is normal when it comes to breastfeeding. From that perspective, I think that training staff, especially young people, will make society more aware and hopefully also make them feel more comfortable nursing in public when they become parents.
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[...] women were confronted for nursing in public. I wrote about a few of them on my blog, including the Guelph swimming pool incident, a United Airlines incident, and a summary of all airline incidentsthat I am aware of. A number of [...]