Hudson Valley Parent

HVParent.com Q Hudson Valley Parent 17 Joyce was quick to say that she's seen the opposite too - some older women are overly accommodating while younger women look at nursing as "icky." "We are an image-driven society. We are usually not comfortable with what we don't see," says Laura Keegan, a family nurse practitioner and author from East Fishkill. Why we should break the taboo "When women are discouraged from breastfeeding in public, new moms get mixed messages. They are expected to breastfeed as often as a baby needs; yet unlike bottle- feeding, breastfeeding needs to be hidden," Keegan continues. And anything that might turn a mother off from breastfeeding is bad news, says Jill Meltzer, head of Women, Infants and Children in Sullivan County. A certified breast- feeding counselor, Meltzer says she tells mothers that breastfeeding is "like immunizing your infant against all those illnesses and viruses that you have developed antibodies to." Pointing to numerous studies on the positive affects of breastfeeding for both mother and child, Meltzer says moms who breastfeed are giving their kids the best start to life possible. "It's nature's medicine, but the affects stay around long after the infant is weaned," she explains. "Infants who are artificially fed with formulas are 15 times more likely to get sick and need medical care or hospitalization. Mother's milk contains different types of living cells that kill germs and keep the infant healthier." But can't you just cover up? You wouldn't have to worry about being indecent if you just covered up, some people say. Not exactly. "Covering up is not practical nor comfortable for the baby, and there will be incidental exposure of the nipple and areola anyway," Keegan explains. "With an infant, a mother needs to see her baby to comfortably latch him on to her exposed breast. With an older baby, the baby often pops off the breast unpredictably or pushes the cover away." For babies, eating is also a social event - they like moving about, they like the freedom of seeing what's going on around them. Similarly, mothers like keeping their babies in view when they're feeding - whether it's to see that the baby is comfortable or simply to have that bond. But while people, like the woman who voiced her disgust at Joyce for feeding her child, see indecency, Meltzer says most women show very little skin while breastfeeding. "Most women who breastfeed in public are pretty covered, not only by their shirt, but also by the baby," she points out. When they see a woman breast- feeding, the experts say the response shouldn't be "gross," but recognition that they just saw a woman being a good parent. "If people understood the importance of breastfeeding as a real public health issue, they might be more understanding or at least tolerant of seeing a woman breastfeed," Meltzer explains. "People mistakenly think women are being selfish or self-centered for wanting to breastfeed in public and willing to fight for that right," Keegan says. Jeanne Sager is a writer and mother from Sullivan County. We asked our readers if they thought breastfeeding in public was a parenting do or a parenting don't. Here's what they had to say: "Oh who cares! Everyone else eats in public, don't they? I openly breastfed my daughter anywhere at anytime. I have never encountered a single dirty Look or Any remarks. And no, I didn't cover her head while she fed either. Would you, while eating?" ~Alicia Tatum "I'm an advocate of breastfeeding in public. No one denies an adult food when they're hungry in public. But I believe women should be modest and cover themselves." ~Jennifer Manzi "Breastfeeding is perfectly natural...no mammal 'hides or covers up' when they feed their young,so why should we?" ~Lesley Weston "Breasts are only 'private' in our society in terms of sexuality, which is really only the objectification of women. Feeding babies is not like urinating in public, it's beautiful and natural!" ~Heather Robinson "To each his own. It is a natural thing and shouldn't be made into a sexual one." ~Denyse Marino Betcher Facebook friends sound off on breastfeeding in public Help, my boobs ache! Reduce breastfeeding pain! hvparent.com/breast-pain

• Cover