On Nurse-ins

Recently I attended my very first nurse-in. A nurse-in is a form of protest. When a nursing mom gets asked to leave a public place or store because she's nursing it often creates an uproar in the "lactivist" community. As a result, supporters of nursing in public will gather together and openly nurse their children in a group to raise awareness and acceptance of nursing. Some of these events gain quite a bit of public attention. This one did not.

The whole thing started because a local mother with asked to find another place to nurse her child when she stopped to nurse him one evening at a Target store. This resulted in planning a nurse-in at Target stores across the country. I figured I'd go support moms that choose to nurse in public, as this is an issue I feel very strongly about. I believe that seeing nursing moms in public is how we teach society that breastfeeding should be the norm, how we show children the proper way to feed a baby, and how we show other breastfeeding moms that don't have adequate support that it's ok, and normal to feed your baby wherever you are and they shouldn't feel like nursing dampers their ability to function in society.

The event was a bit of a "fail" (at least in my opinion). I've seen pictures of other nurse-ins at various locations that look like those protests you see in movies. Several moms nursing their babies while other supporters hold up signs about a mom's right to nurse her baby wherever she has a right to be (as this is the law in Texas). This nurse-in, though, was little more than a group of nursing moms hanging out and chatting in the Target Starbucks Cafe. Sure several of us nursed while there, but as we were sequestered in one area that's tucked away from shopping traffic, and the group was rather small (maybe half a dozen moms), it didn't quite draw attention of passersby - or even the Target staff.

This event certainly didn't appease the "lactivist" in me. While I'm not one to want to cause a public uproar, I would have wanted a little bit more attention to be given to the group. As it was, I doubt our little gathering did much to promote a woman's right to feed her child anywhere. I hope that nurse-ins in other locations were more successful at fulfilling that purpose. In any case, I will continue to feed my child wherever I am, as I already do. I might take the opportunity to join another nurse-in if it occurs, and I certainly hope it is more successful than this one seemed to be.