Breastfeeding in public deals with the social attitudes to nursing mothers breastfeeding their babies in a public or semi-public place and to laws which either deprive them of the right or which recognize their choice to do so.
Some people are uncomfortable with seeing a mother breastfeed her baby,[1] and some societies consider breastfeeding in a public place to be indecent.
Some nursing mothers may feel reluctant to breastfeed in public,[2][3] either because of their upbringing or because of their own attitudes to exposing their breast in public to breastfeed, or because of anticipated reactions of others. Many countries have laws which make breastfeeding in a public place legal and disallow businesses from prohibiting it in the workplace.
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In Canada, Section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives equal rights and freedoms to men and women. The Canadian Charter does not explicitly mention breastfeeding. However, a 1989 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Brooks v. Safeway Canada held that as pregnancy was a condition unique to women, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is a form of sex discrimination. Some commentators note, however, that the case was concerned with maternity pay and not with the right to breastfeed in public.
In June 2009, 27-year-old Tanya Constable, who was breastfeeding her baby, was approached by a Walmart employee in the baby section of the Langford, British Columbia retail store and told, "You can't be here," suggesting that she move to the washroom instead. According to Constable, when she asked to speak to the manager, "The manager said that if someone complains, the store's policy is to ask them to move." Constable then decided to leave the store rather than breastfeed her 11-month-old daughter in the washroom. Walmart Canada later apologized for asking the mother to move and said that,"Customers can breastfeed in whatever manner they see fit anywhere in the store."[4]
In Shanghai, breastfeeding in public is considered embarrassing. There have been calls for the establishment of baby care facilities in public places.[5][6]
While public breastfeeding has been widely accepted especially since the Movement of 1968 when Nurse-Inns (German: Still-Inns) in public places, university lectures or even Bundestag sessions were a common sight, there is no legislature that specifically addresses breastfeeding in public.[7]
Paragraph 2 Article 6 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany provides that "the care and upbringing of children as the natural right of parents" while paragraph 4 "entitles every mother to the protection and care of the community".[8]
In recent decades acceptance for public breastfeeding appears to have decreased and according to surveys an increasing number of mothers try to avoid breastfeeding in public whenever possible. In a recent Bundestag session a member of the SPD party had to leave the floor after members of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany) complained that they felt disturbed by the breastfeeding mother.[9]
In the Philippines, breastfeeding is protected by various laws, such as the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009[10] and the Milk Code of the Philippines (Executive Order 51) [11]. Mothers are allowed to breastfeed in public. Employers are required to allow lactating employees breaks to breastfeed or express breastmilk. Offices, public establishments like malls and schools, and government institutions are required to establish lactation stations separate from the bathroom, where mothers can breastfeed their babies or express milk. The Milk Code prohibits the advertising of infant formula or bottle teats targeted at babies 24 months old and below.
Women in Saudi Arabia openly breastfeed their infants even though they may be fully veiled.[12][13]
The Public Breastfeeding Act since November 2010 safeguards the right to breastfeed in public, and to forbid, eject, or interfere breastfeeding in public is to be fined 6000 to 30000 new Taiwan dollars.[14]
Breastfeeding in public (restaurants, cafes, libraries etc.) is protected under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 under the provision of goods, facilities and services section. If the child is under 6 months old, the mother has additional protection under a 2008 amendment to the act which protects maternity rights.
A UK Department of Health survey found that 84% (about 5 out of 6 people) find breastfeeding in public acceptable if done discreetly, however 67% (2 out of 3) of mothers are worried about general opinion being against public breastfeeding.[15] To combat these fears in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament passed legislation safeguarding the freedom of women to breastfeed in public in 2005.[16] The legislation allows for fines of up to £2500 for preventing breastfeeding in public places.[17]
The Equality Act 2010 also prohibits discrimination against women who are breastfeeding.[18]
Most US jurisdictions permit breastfeeding in public.[19][20] In the United States, for instance, a federal law enacted in 1999[21] specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location." However, these laws do not apply to private organizations or to locations on private property, like restaurants, airlines, or shopping malls. As a result, a number of states have enacted legislation to specifically legalize public nursing.[19]
In November 2006, Emily Gillette, a 27-year-old from Santa Fe, New Mexico was refused service in Burlington, Vermont after being asked to leave a Freedom Airlines flight by a flight attendant after she refused to breastfeed her baby under a blanket.[22]
During June 2007, Brooke Ryan was dining in a booth at the rear of an Applebee's restaurant when she decided to breastfeed her 7-month-old son. While she said she attempted to be discreet, another patron complained that her partially revealed breast was "indecent exposure." Both a waitress and the manager asked her to cover up. She handed him a copy of the Kentucky law[23] that permitted public breastfeeding, but he would not relent. She ended up feeding her son in her car and later organized several "nurse-in" protests in front of the restaurant and other public places.[24]
In 2006, the editors of BabyTalk magazine received numerous complaints from readers after the cover of the August issue depicted a baby nursing at a bare breast. Even though the model's nipple was not shown, readers—many of them mothers—wrote that the image was "gross". In a follow-up poll, one-quarter of 4000 readers who responded thought the cover was negative. Babytalk editor Susan Kane commented, "There's a huge Puritanical streak in Americans." In a 2004 survey conducted by the American Dietetic Association, only 43% of the 3,719 respondents believed women ought to have the right to breast-feed in public.[25]
In June, 2010, a deputy editor for the leading U.K. parenting magazine Mother & Baby set off a storm of protest when she described breastfeeding as "creepy." Kathryn Blundell told readers that she bottlefed her child from birth because "I wanted my body back [and] to give my boobs at least a chance to stay on my chest rather than dangling around my stomach." She upset readers when she wrote about her breasts, "They're part of my sexuality, too – not just breasts, but fun bags. And when you have that attitude (and I admit I made no attempt to change it), seeing your teeny, tiny, innocent baby latching on where only a lover has been before feels, well, a little creepy." The anti-breastfeeding tone of her article prompted six complaints to the British Press Complaints Commission and set off considerable online debate. The magazine received dozens of positive responses as well.[26]
In 2005, Barbara Walters remarked on her talk show The View that she felt uncomfortable sitting next to a breastfeeding mother during a flight. Her comments upset some viewers who began organizing protests over the internet. A group of about 200 mothers staged a public "nurse in" where they breastfed their babies outside ABC's headquarters in New York.[27]
In 2011, FoxNews reporter Trace Gallagher was discussing the “nurse-ins,” where mothers — in response to a fellow mother being asked not to breastfeed at a Target store — descended on stores across the nation to breastfeed their babies in public. After he wrapped up his report, Kelly offered a personal anecdote. “You know, I got a lot of thoughts on this, Trace,” she explained with a smile on her face. “Let me just put it this way: I used to feel a lot differently before I had babies and you’re breastfeeding; they need to be fed and then sometimes they don’t like the cover. And before you know it, you‘re Megyn Kelly and you’re showing your breasts to a whole plane.” Gallagher responded by laughing and clapping his hands — which is about all he could do at that point.[28]
Facebook has come under fire for removing photos of mothers breastfeeding their children, citing offensive content in violation of the Facebook Terms of Service.[29] Facebook claimed that these photos violated their decency code by showing an exposed breast, even when the baby covered the nipple. This action was described as hypocritical, since Facebook took several days to respond to calls to deactivate a paid advertisement for a dating service that used a photo of a topless model.[30]
The breastfeeding controversy continued following public protests and the growth in the online membership in the Facebook group titled "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene! (Official petition to Facebook)."[31]
A United States House of Representatives appropriations bill (HR 2490) with an amendment specifically permitting breastfeeding[32] was signed into law on September 29, 1999. It stipulated that no government funds may be used to enforce any prohibition on women breastfeeding their children in Federal buildings or on Federal property. Further, a U.S. Public Law[33] enacted in 1999, specifically provides that "a woman may breastfeed her child at any location in a Federal building or on Federal property, if the woman and her child are otherwise authorized to be present at the location." A majority of states have enacted state statutes specifically permitting the public exposure of the female breast for breastfeeding infants, or exempting such women from prosecution under applicable statutes,[34] such as those regarding indecent exposure.
As a result of these previously mentioned and other controversies, 47 states as of January 2009 have passed legislation that either explicitly allow women to breastfeed in public or exempt them from prosecution for public indecency.[34] Attempts during 2007 to codify a child's right to nurse were unsuccessful in West Virginia.[35]
Section 4207 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to provide a reasonable break time for an employee to breastfeed her child who is less than one year old.[36] The employee must be allowed to breastfeed in a private place, other than a bathroom.[36] The employer is not required to pay the employee during the break time.[36] Employers with fewer than 50 employees are not required to comply with the law if doing so would impose an undue hardship to the employer based on its size, finances, nature, or structure of its business.[37]