The Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog

Vermont Human Rights Commission finds that airline violated the law when forcing mother off plane.

Most of you probably recall the case of Emily Gillette (shown to the right), the New Mexico mother who was forced off of a Freedom Airlines plane in 2006 because she refused to cover up or stop breastfeeding.  The incident occurred in Vermont, a state which protects nursing mothers' rights to breastfeed in public places.  The case sparked the first nationwide nurse-in at Delta ticket counters.

The Vermont Human Rights Commission ruled this week that Freedom Airlines discriminated against Gillette.  The parties now have six months in which to reach a settlement agreement.  Though the flight Gillette was taking was a code-share between Delta Airlines and Freedom Airlines, the Commission did not charge Delta with discrimination. 

The Burlington Free Press reports:

"We are delighted that the commission found against Freedom," said Beth Boepple, a Manchester-based attorney who represents Gillette. "We're disappointed in the decision regarding Delta, but we understand why the commission arrived at that decision, even though we don't necessarily agree."

Freedom and Gillette have six months to negotiate a settlement. Boepple said Gillette's goal is to see airline policy put into place that protects other women from similar events; a written policy put into place that trains and educates employees; and to receive monetary compensation to at least cover legal and travel costs.

A ruling against Delta obviously would have had more far-reaching implications, but this news is still a positive step and may make other airlines take the issue seriously.

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Can you guess which state doesn't protect breastfeeding in public?

There have been four incidents in the news recently regarding nursing in public, one each in New York, Florida, Texas, and Massachusetts.  Three of the four states have statutes protecting nursing in public.  See if you can guess which one does not.

In Florida a mother was told to stop breastfeeding at her older child's school.  

Outcome: The school's principal "later looked into Florida law on breast-feeding, and found he was off-base... He has since told staff members that breast-feeding is allowed at school."

In New York, a mother visiting a museum stopped to nurse her baby - under three blankets.  She was told to move to a bathroom or leave.  Area mothers later held a group show of support for the mother.

Outcome:  The museum director stated "the museum has no such policy prohibiting breastfeeding anywhere."  He believes that the person involved was not a museum staff member, and stated “We know that our staff is well aware about rule, regulations, about rights to breast feed anywhere.”

In Texas (video is worth watching), a mother getting her haircut at a salon was told that she couldn't breastfeed her child.  There were no other customers in the salon at the time, and the mother was had tried to nurse under a shawl and the salon's smock.  She left with her hair half-cut.  

Outcome:  The salon chain issued this statement: "We welcome mothers and children.  We do not have a policy against breastfeeding. This employee acted incorrectly."

In Massachusetts, a mother eating with her family at a restaurant was told she couldn't breastfeed in an adjoining empty banquet hall.  She asked if she could have a private space to nurse, and was told no by the manager. 

Outcome:  Restaurant management stated that they never heard her mention breastfeeding.  A waitress stated that the mother was told she could nurse in the banquet hall, but not eat there.

 

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Motherwear Podcast: Heather Cushman-Dowdee, creator of Hathor the Cowgoddess.

Welcome to another Motherwear Podcast!  My guest for this recording is Heather Cushman-Dowdee, creator of Hathor the Cowgoddess, shown to the left nursing and drawing in her kitchen.

This was a very fun interview.  I got to ask Heather about how she draws, the inspiration for Hathor, and the time she baked breastmilk bread with 150 college students.  Bonus knock-knock joke at the end!

This one is a bit long, but I just couldn't bear to edit it down more.  It was such a fun and interesting conversation.

You can listen right here using the player below, or download it.

Heather's new book, Hathor's Zines, Slings, and Do-it-Yourself Things, (cover to the left) is now available for pre-order!

Be sure to check out a few past posts featuring Hathor:

The Zoops (video)
Hathor on covering up to nurse in public
Hathor on Applebee's breastfeeding policy

And more podcasts are here.

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Stone Soup comic strip takes on nursing in public this week.

The comic strip Stone Soup has been running cartoons about breastfeeding all week, complete with "nuk, nuk" captions for the nursing baby.  Check them out!  The titles below are mine.

• Monday:  "You can't do that here."
• Tuesday:  "You hang on to her..."
• Wednesday:  "Hooters"
• Thursday:  "Mooo"
• Friday:  "Teething"
• Saturday:  "Yikes"

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Any YMCA directors out there?

Quick request:  I'm working on a little project involving a YMCA and nursing in public, and I'd love to make contact with a Y director from a state in which nursing in public is protected by law.  It could also be helpful to talk to the director of a YMCA in a state in which breastfeeding in public is not legally protected but is protected by a policy of that facility.

So, if you're a Y director, or if you can help me get in touch with one, please email me.  Thanks!

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Motherwear's letter to the Massachusetts legislature.

Here is a letter Motherwear recently sent, along with letters from our local breastfeeding task force, local Moms Rising/Motherwoman group, and 100 individuals, to the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health in support of Senate Bill 78.  This bill would provide legal protection for breastfeeding in public, and require employers to accommodate pumping mothers in the workplace.

The bill has passed out of the committee, given a new number, and will soon be headed to the House, where it died last year.  You can weigh  in on this bill, too, through the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition's advocacy page.

Dear (Senator or Representative):

On behalf of Motherwear International, Inc., I am writing to urge you to vote in favor of Senate Bill 78, "An Act Relative to the Public Health Benefits of Breast Feeding."

Motherwear has been supporting breastfeeding for over 24 years.  We publish the only catalog exclusively for nursing moms.  Motherwear's commitment to nursing doesn't stop at the clothing.  We want all women to feel empowered with the knowledge they're giving the best possible start to their babies.

At the root of our mission is our desire to support breastfeeding women and create a nurturing environment for them and their families.  We want to help women foster a long and satisfying breastfeeding relationship with their babies, educate others about the benefits of breastfeeding, and empower more mothers to nurse their babies longer.

We are dismayed that Massachusetts is one of only a handful of states that does not protect mother nursing their children in public.  We believe that a woman should not be forced to delay feeding her hungry child because of fear of how she will be treated.  Children should not be required to be fed while their mothers are perched over public toilets in cramped bathroom stalls.  Passage of legislation to protect the rights of mothers to breastfeed will send a powerful message that the State of Massachusetts recognizes the individual and societal benefits of nursing.

We also support this legislation because it requires that employers make reasonable accommodations for mothers who want to pump in the workplace. 

If a woman is to be able to successfully breastfeed her child, it is imperative that her rights to feed her child in the optimally beneficial way be protected.

Please vote YES on the passage of Senate Bill 78.

Sincerely,

Jeanne Taylor, CEO

Motherwear International, Inc.

This is indecent.

Well, not to me, but it is in the opinion of one member of the city council of Lubbock, Texas, which banned the painting to the left from a show in the Buddy Holly Center this week.  Also banned was a nude of a pregnant mother.

I was contacted by Annie Harrison, who is the model for the painting, and who is understandably a bit peeved that this touching, dare we say normal, moment between her and her daugher Samantha is being labeled indecent.

Here's a local press report on the incident:

"A city of Lubbock official banned two drawings - one with nudity - from an art show in a city-run facility, a move the artist says could discourage her West Texas colleagues.

The predominantly pencil-sketched images of a nearly fully clothed mother who is breast-feeding and a nude pregnant woman were banned from the Buddy Holly Center, a cultural facility that pays tribute to the late rock 'n' roll star and regularly displays various art forms.

'I was very surprised because I had shown there in 2003 and had shown many nudes,' Lahib Jaddo said Tuesday. 'I am mad at the city.'

...'We will continue to review exhibits on a case-by-case basis using good judgment about the nature of what is displayed in a city-owned facility which hosts events attended by children,' City Manager Lee Ann Dumbauld said through [a city spokeswoman]."

The artist accuses the city of making the decision to ban the paintings without even seeing them, noting that the decison was made over the phone.  The museum is a city-run facility. 

Fortunately not everyone in Lubbock agrees with the city, including this blogger and her readers.  If you'd care to email the council or mayor, their contact information is here.

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What would you want in a mothers' room?

Recently I was contacted by a business owner looking for some advice about what to put in some planned mothers' rooms in his retail stores.

The stores (for now the name will remain anonymous) are located in the Southwest and West, and the owner would really like to make them more breastfeeding-friendly.  Though the rooms will be available to any mother, he's thinking of them first as rooms for nursing moms.  He writes, "I'm excited about the opportunity to educate mothers about the beneficial aspects of breastfeeding - for both mom and baby, and the opportunity to inform mothers about their legal rights, or lack thereof, of nursing in public."

In our exchange I've expressed my opinion that it's very important that mothers' rights to breastfeed in any part of the store not be compromised by the availability of these rooms.  Of course, it's likely that the law in these states protects mothers' rights to nurse anywhere in the store. I explored this "convenience vs. quarantine" concept a bit in a post a few months ago.  These rooms can't turn into the only place a mother can nurse, and the store staff can't try to usher breastfeeding mothers into the mothers' rooms. 

Below is a poll (may have to wait for it to load) for you to express your opinion about the contents of a mothers' room.  You can vote for more than one item - just keep returning to the poll and clicking.  Feel free to leave comments in the comments section below as well.

Nursing in a Hot Sling.

A few months ago I invited Meg, our local babywearing expert, to the breastfeeding support group I run to teach us how to nurse babies while carrying them in slings.  Meg runs babywearing workshops at a local store called A Child's Garden and runs a local online group of babywearers.

Here's her explanation of how to nurse in a Hot Sling, with a little 'help' from her daughter Aviva.  You're going to have to excuse my filming.  Not the best quality, but I hope you'll get the idea.

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Breastfeeding and the law.

A few months ago Mothering Magazine had an excellent article on breastfeeding in public and the law, written by Jake Marcus.  The cover of that edition is to the left, with Emily Gillette on the cover.  Mothering has put that article up on their website, so you can check it out even if you're not a subscriber.

The topic of nursing in public and the law is one that confuses a lot of people.  I thought that Jake explained very clearly why laws protecting the right to breastfeed in public are needed:

There are no laws in the US forbidding breastfeeding outside of the home, and only two states in which laws place any limitation on the way in which public breastfeeding may be done. However, in the absence of a law establishing and protecting the right, a woman who breastfeeds in a public accommodation—a privately owned place open to the public, such as a restaurant or shopping mall—might lawfully be asked to leave, either by the owner or in accordance with the owner's instructions...

A basic maxim of American law is that a right without a remedy is no right at all. In plain terms, this means that although you may have a "right" to do anything not otherwise forbidden by law, if you do not also have a legal protection against someone interfering with that right, your ability to exercise it may be limited.

Mothering is also making available a cut-and-fold pocket guide to breastfeeding in public in the U.S., including notes on the TSA policies regarding bringing breastmilk on board airplanes. 

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