Friday, July 13, 2012

When are nurse-ins necessary?


I read an article today about a nurse-in at Pirate's Cove waterpark in Colorado and I was thinking about nurse-ins in general.

It seems like moms are overzealous when it comes to proving they can breastfeed anywhere.  I breastfeed and I agree that people should be more aware of the law.  The employee admitted she wasn't familiar with the law and I believe her.  I've worked in different stores and have never had any training on what to do if someone is breastfeeding.

Before I became a mother I never thought about where someone could or could not breastfeed at all.  If I had seen someone nursing while I was working I wouldn't have said anything.  I would have wondered if it was allowed or if there was were even laws about this, because I didn't know.

Chances are that unless the employees are also breastfeeding moms who wanted to make sure they could feed their children in public, they wouldn't know.  And she was responding to complaints by other customers, who also probably didn't know.

So, there was a lot of ignorance.  A letter was written, phone calls were made and an apology issued.  The park said they'd use this as a training exercise.  Does that mean that 25 moms need to go in and prove their point?  Do they need more phone calls expressing disappointment?

I guess I've been lucky; no one has asked me to cover up or go somewhere else.  And I wouldn't if they did.  But, in this case, I'm not sure a nurse-in is really necessary.  Shouldn't those be saved for places that won't abide by the law?

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