No, I will not be ashamed or hide while breastfeeding.

I was once told by a family member, who emailed me after seeing me discuss my breastfeeding relationship online with a sense of contentment and pride, that I was shaming the Rainbolt name. Upon further “discussion” he stated that he was not against breastfeeding. He was opposed to breastfeeding in public.

Ummmm… hey douche bag, they’re the same thing! Really think about this, because this is something I have heard stated elsewhere. For a mother to please your sensibilities, what would that look like? You would like her to exclusively breastfeed her baby, because you are for breastfeeding, but the breastfeeding can never take place outside of her house, in front of any other people, or even be discussed with others. That is not possible! Babies breastfeed constantly- for hours, all day. If a mother cannot breastfeed in public, she could never leave the house! And I do not give you or anyone else the power to take away my freedom, or the freedom of any other breastfeeding mother. Breastfeeding is not and should not be a prison sentence. Breastfeeding mothers have to live the same kind of life you do with crazy public activities like grocery shopping, doctor’s appointments, eating lunch, etc. And in order for said life to continue, breastfeeding will occur in public.

This attitude that breastfeeding should not be done in public is so detrimental to breastfeeding success and the psychological well-being of women. Even the most resilient of mothers feels the pressure and only the strongest stand up to it. If we live our lives never seeing other women breastfeed, how can we possibly be expected to know how to do it? If our children do not grow up seeing breastfeeding as the normal way to feed a baby then how can they be expected to want or plan to breastfeed their babies? I will not allow your implication that I should be ashamed of breastfeeding permeate into my relationship with my baby or the way in which I interact with society. I live my life and feed my baby, all with a sense of contentment and pride.