Steph Peters I love hearing stories of the funny places and situations moms had to either nurse their baby or pump in public. From my sister pumping in the car while I drove, to my best friend pumping at baseball games, it’s just something we have to do for our breastfed babies. In fact, these are the situations I’ve been in where I do feel more like “I am woman, hear me roar!” Especially when I had to nurse Bryce on an airplane for the first time. You think your seat on a plane is already small – try nursing a baby while keeping him from kicking the big guy who looks like a football player sitting next to you. Thanks for your comments to my blog last week when I asked for you to share your stories about nursing in public. “akayhay” commented and shared an even more crowded scenario than my airplane story – nursing her baby on a train in Japan while standing up with at least five random strangers touching some part of her body!
While I was in the airport, it was time for Bryce to feed and he was not having it with the apron on me. (My trusty nursing apron is pictured here, maybe one day I’ll feel confident enough not to use it!) So I went to the restroom and nursed him in a stall, while I was thinking to myself “Why do I feel like I have to come in here and hide this instead of just taking off the apron. Isn’t this why God gave women boobs?!” So now I give even more credit to women who can nurse without a coverup! I always think of my husband’s story from when he was a server at a restaurant and a woman just whipped out her breast and started feeding her baby while he was taking her order – I wish I could rewind time and go give her a high five! Women who do that give me more confidence and that’s what can really help breastfeeding moms – other women’s support and confidence.
So if you know a new mom, tell her some of your stories when you were uncomfortable nursing and how you overcame that feeling. In return, I believe that will make her more comfortable thinking “if she can do it, so can I.”
