I firmly believe that a woman has the right to breastfeed her baby in public. It is a natural act and there is no reason any woman should be made to feel uncomfortable about it. In fact I have nursed Luke at a football game, in a restaurant, at his pediatrician's office and in more parking lots than I can count. That being said, I understand that many women are too modest to do that and this is why some clever person invented nursing covers.
I have one and I have used it a few times. It was nice when Luke was really small before he learned to latch quickly. Now he and I have developed a routine and the nursing cover is more of a hindrance since I can't see what I'm doing and it's hard to juggle it and the baby without someone to help me.
Perhaps my biggest problem with my nursing cover is that it seems to result in the opposite of discretion. I think most people are uncomfortable with public nursing because they don't like the idea of exposed breasts, not because they're actually offended by the view. In fact, most moms can nurse so discreetly strangers aren't even aware that it's happening. Unless, of course, she is wearing a nursing cover.
My nursing cover doesn't remotely look like an article of clothing. It does look a little like a smock, but it's clear I'm not doing arts and crafts. When I used to wear mine, I felt like I was screaming "DON'T LOOK OVER HERE! I'M BREASTFEEDING, BUT PLEASE IGNORE IT!"
So now I nurse au naturale and I leave the nursing cover at home. Moms, how do you feel about it?
No comments:
Post a Comment