Silke Jasso
Once you have children, breasts become something different. Something kind of miraculous — they keep humans alive.
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When you have children, things become much clearer. You prioritize smarter. For example, when I was breastfeeding, it was WAY more important for me to feed a human than worry about your comfort level. I didn’t have time for your feelings about ME feeding MY child. It is so absurd.
But that’s just MY experience and those are MY feelings.
There are plenty of women who don’t feel that way. There are plenty of women who don’t want to breastfeed or pump in public. And you know what? That’s okay too! But too often, there is no place to go. Especially, when you are a working mom who travels without your child.
For those of you not familiar with breastfeeding, you pump when you would normally feed your child so your supply doesn’t dwindle. Sometimes this means you are pumping every two hours. Now, when you are traveling, can you imagine trying to do something every two hours? Something that involves equipment, sanitizing parts and at least 15 minutes?
In 2011, three metro Atlanta women started a campaign called “Table for Two” to establish public lactation rooms at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport for traveling moms. As part of their campaign, they took photos of people eating in public restrooms to drive their point home. Because they say, after all, that is what you are asking your baby to do when you feed him or her in the public restroom. And the campaign worked.
Now, Atlanta’s airport has you covered. It has recently introduced 4 lactation pods for nursing mothers on its concourses.
What are they like?
They are nice. They are free. And they have a door with a lock. They work, is all I am saying. And that’s great. Moms deserve pods, damnit! Moms deserve to be comfortable feeding their child, whatever that means.
Personally, I am still baffled that breastfeeding and pumping in public are STILL a thing in 2016. BUT, we have pods, and that is something. It will only truly be progress when a woman breastfeeding and pumping in public is NOT a conversation.
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