Breastfeeding, whether done in public or private, will always attract controversy. But in the hospital setting, mothers should feel safe and welcome to nurse. Sadly, many find it issues with it still.
That was why nursing mother Gabby Fluhler suddenly found herself being relegated into a private room at an allergy clinic.
In a Star Press article, Gabby said that employee came up to her and said she was making other people in the waiting room uncomfortable.
At that moment, Gabby said, she felt embarrassed and speechless. She ended up feeding her daughter in her car in the parking lot instead.
"I’ve never had any comment like that before," said the Indianan mother. "To be honest, I didn’t really say anything. I didn’t really know what to say."
Gabby and her own mother took to Facebook later that day to recount their unpleasant experience; they said that such negative experiences discourage many mothers from choosing the "healthiest way to feed her baby."
In the United States, 49 states already mandated that woman should be able to breastfeed her child in any private and public location. However, according to the same Star Press report, Indiana is not one of the 29 states that exempts breastfeeding from its indecency laws.
“It’s so frustrating to see how our society sexualizes the breasts, and it’s OK for all the breasts to be hanging out in these little bikini tops...But yet it’s not OK to breastfeed,” said Teresa Terrell, a certified lactation consultant for IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.
Teresa said that Fluhler’s case, sadly, isn’t the first of such incidents happening, and said that it was discouraging.
“As health care providers we should be practicing the latest, evidence-based practice...We should be supporting all of our breastfeeding moms; this is the natural way to feed a baby.”
As for Gabby, she said that most of the time she nurses with a cover, and usually finds a less conspicuous spot to do it.
“I understand that breastfeeding is a controversial topic," she said. "It's a decision I made for the health and well being of my daughter, I don’t feel that I should be disrespected for that.”
READ: Café owner throws mother out for breastfeeding her child
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