People look at moms breastfeeding rarely with disgust, but rather in awe. Look at the clothes many women are wearing today, you see almost all the breast. The nipple is what is private and a nursing baby covers that up.

Why should an adult be able to eat in public but a breastfed child not? Next time you want to eat your supper in a restroom stall is the next time I will nurse a baby in a restroom stall.

The issue is happy, healthy babies and happy, healthy moms.

Not only am I a mother, I am also a 2nd grade teacher at a year-round school. I took 7 weeks for maternity leave. When I returned to work I worked out a pumping schedule with my coworkers and principals. While my students were out at recess I pumped. I also pumped during my lunch and while my students were at specials. Another 2nd grade teacher also recently gave birth and we decided to cover each other’s classes so that we could take turns pumping. This seemed to be working well for both of us, our students, our 2nd grade team members, and our principals. A few weeks ago, while my teammate was off-track, our Assistant Principal decided to provide coverage for me so I could pump before recess and assist with recess duty. An Educational Assistant stayed with my students during their 15 minute snack time before recess.

I am now off-track and thought that when I returned to work I would have the ability to pump in the morning, as I did before I went off-track. However, I was wrong, very wrong. It turns out that my Assistant Principal went to HR to find out what he had to legally provide for us nursing moms. He was told that he didn’t have to provide us anything. So, he took it upon himself to tell my coworker and I that we’ll “have to work it out with our bodies and babies” to do without pumping in the morning. We can pump during our “off time” at lunch and specials, but he can no longer provide coverage for us in the morning. That means we will not be able to pump for 5 plus hours! Considering that both of our daughters still nurse every 3 hours, we’re in for a lot of pain and possibly decreased milk supply. This is not something either of us want our bodies or babies to “work out”. Feeding formula to my baby is not an option for me. My son was only given breastmilk for the first year of his life, and continued to nurse until he was almost 2. He is now a healthy 3 year old who has never had an ear infection and only a handful of colds. I want to same for my daughter.

How can it be that I work in a place that nurtures and cares for children on a daily basis yet denies me the right to nurture my own child? I wonder, “Does my Assistant Principal truly care for kids?” Perhaps he only cares for his own 3 kids since his wife has the luxury of being able to stay at home with their children? Is it right for me to deny my child the nutrition of my breastmilk because it’s inconvenient for my Assistant Principal? What kind of message is this sending? “Take care of these 26 students in your class by giving them a high quality education. However, your child doesn’t need your nurturing and nutritious breastmilk.” Don’t we live in an educated society?

It is important that women are given the legal right to breastfeed and nurse their children at their place of employment. Please support babies and mothers by asking your representative to sponsor HR 2236. My daughter and I thank you for your support in our mission to continue providing the best nutrition possible for babies everywhere!

Additionally, I had a history of working one day a week from home (for the past couple years). When I presumed that I would continue to do this, the board chair again questioned me. Saying, “You had 3 months to work out child care and get your son adjusted. How was it that you now need to work from home sometimes?”

My son (who was 3 months old) had been born about 3.5 weeks early. He had a 6 day NICU stay, and we got off to a rough start with breastfeeding. When we started him in day care, he did badly; he cried a lot and wouldn’t take a bottle for the care provider. I’d hoped to ease back into work by working 32 or 36 hours a week to start (with 8 at home), and adjusting to full time over 6 months or so. I was told that I could do that if my family was now a bigger priority to me than my work, but that I couldn’t stay in my current position. Since I’m the executive director of a small non-profit, this could only mean a demotion.

Since our organization’s mission is to stabilize and care for families with children, I was naturally upset to learn that the board chair was not willing to allow me to care for my own family the way I needed to. I’m willing to work with my staff to allow them to care for their families (including allowing one mom to go to a 30 hour schedule for about 6 months after her maternity leave), yet he was claiming that to allow me to care for my family would be to set a precedence that we couldn’t follow with other staff. In my line of work, I see a lot of parents who are in crisis because they lose their jobs, are skipped for promotions or are forced to take unpaid time off work to take care of their families.

Clearly, we need better policies to support and protect parents, and allow them to care for their families. From what I can tell, the US is way behind other developed nations in supporting and promoting breastfeeding, in parental leave, and other pro-family policies. We can do better, and we must- on an individual level and nationally.

I’m a new mom and pro breastfeeding. I work Full time, with benefits but am lucky enough to do it from home.

But is makes me so sad that breastfeeding lobby gets all the attention, and so makes it the issue for moms. It is not. It is an issue for educated well-off ladies like myself.

And also? Breatfeeding is not as miraculous as it’s cracked up to be. The doctors whisper about their own children on formula to me while the lactation loonies talk nonsense.

FIGHT THE BOOB POWAH, FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY — unfriendly woking policies.

I’m a new mom and pro breastfeeding. I work Full time, with benefits but am lucky enough to do it from home.

But is makes me so sad that breastfeeding lobby gets all the attention, and so makes it the issue for moms. It is not. It is an issue for educated well-off ladies like myself.

And also? Breatfeeding is not as miraculous as it’s cracked up to be. The doctors whisper about their own children on formula to me while the lactation loonies talk nonsense.

FIGHT THE BOOB POWAH, FIGHT THE REAL ENEMY — unfriendly woking policies.

There is nothing wrong with expecting nursing moms to COVER UP. Breastfeeding should not be an excuse for exhibitionism. You know very well that some mothers, a very small number, like to flaunt their status AS mothers, or their bare breasts, in public.

When I was nursing, I wanted to share that private moment ONLY with my husband and baby. (Maybe with another child if I had one.) I was called selfish because I wouldn’t let my husband’s uncle WATCH.

Find an issue women actually NEED help with. Here are some ideas:

In NY, workman’s comp for a female employee costs 2x what it does for a male employee. It’s MORE expensive to HIRE a woman!

Women STILL make less for the same job as men.

Women are STILL expected to cook, clean and do the wash, even if they work.

ETC.