Wendy on Facebook

Is Breastfeeding in Public Okay?

Tuesday December 15th, 2009

breastfeeding250Is it okay to breastfeed in public?

A Michigan woman was escorted out of her local Target store for breastfeeding her 4-week old child.

Mary Martinez said her daughter became hungry when she was shopping at Target so she started to breastfeed. A Target employee approached Mary and said she was breaking the law.

Find out what Wendy has to say about breastfeeding in public.

Watch It!

Tell Us: Do you think it’s okay to breastfeed in public?

Watch: Wendy’s Mommy Guilt

121 Comments

  1. I was a breastfeeding mother when I had babies. No matter where it is when a baby gets hungry, a baby should be fed but mother should be discreet and cover up as much as possible. I did it just about anyplace but discreetly.

  2. I was very, very upset when I saw this on your show, Wendy. I’m a Breastfeeding Educator, and I’m also a Program Specialist at the Health Department in Kansas City, Kansas (WIC Program). They got alot of nerves. That was that baby’s source of food. Whoever escorted her out, they should try not eating when they are hungry. If this mom is needing support in any kind of way, tell her I will have her back and i’m not way back. Wendy, also I’m loving your show. Hopefully, i can visit it one day. Keep up the good work. I love the guest you have and most of all I love the Hot Topic, Lol. You have a bless day, this is from Ms. Mookie in Kansas City, Kansas. When I see you, I will say, “How You Doin.”

  3. come on.. you know there is nothing wrong with breast feeding. but lets be real. a boob in public is not great to do.. there are a million and one things that can be done to still breast feed.. cover the boob. milk the boob before you go out.. go to somewhere private.. people like the controversy..you DO NOT hve to show the boob in public… i was on a train and had no idea the lady was even holding a baby.. much less didn’t know she was breast feeding.. no one wants to see your boob but your baby.. and perverts..cover the boob.. baby still gets fed and no one is upset..

  4. I was there in Target. Mary took out her breasts and squirted the milk on patrons.

  5. Yes, breastfeeding is natural but having a breast exposed is not natural. When breastfeeding one can still be tactful, no excuse to expose. So Target was absolutely correct in their actions…Mary just sounds like an exhibitionist.

  6. This is a little bit off the subject but the guy that stood up to oppose breastfeeding in public, isn’t he one of the guys that are apart of the Jersey Shore crew??

  7. I Love you Wendy!!!

    My daughter Jillian (23) who is an advocate for breastfeeeding my beautiful granddaughter Morgan (9 months who has never had a bottle or pacifier). Let me say my daughter breastfeeds with a cover anywhere she goes. Her friends and our family disagree with public breastfeeding, but it doesn’t bother my daughter. To share we attended the Bayou Classic in New Orleans, LA this year my
    granddaughter was hungry my daughter covered popped it out breastfeed in front of thousands of people. She loves the bond between her and baby. I support my daughter she is a wonderful mother and to all the breastfeeding mothers do what is best for your child don’t let anyway stop you. So hats off to Mrs. Mary Martinez!!!!!

  8. The other day I was nursing my 9 month old baby in a Sears dressing room when the employee working in the department near the dressing room came in and asked me what I was doing and proceeded to stare at me feeding my baby and shook her head and walked away. She was an older women and I asked her if there was a problem and she hesitated before she said no. I do not think I could have been any more discreet and I would think she would understand. It was dissappointing since there is nothing wrong with anyone nursing their babies in public. It is as normal as eating a sandwich in public. We do not ask anyone to eat there lunch in a bathroom or dressing room so why do our nursing babies have too?

  9. I nursed my daughter in Target, JC Penny’s, Ross, and even at Disneyland. (with a blanket covering the goods of course) I wish someone would have said something to me at the time. I probably would have sprayed them, not really. That Mom was taking care of her child’s needs. When I’m in a store and I hear babies crying I wonder why their parents’ are not trying to calm them. Here this mom is caring for her child and being penalized for it, pure ignorance no compassion. Shame on Target

  10. Some people will never get it. Breast feeding is normal and natural. There are numerous health benefits for the mother and the baby. The milk belongs to the baby and there isn’t a convenient time to breast feed. The best time to feed the baby is when the baby wants it. So, for those who don’t like to see mothers breast feed-please stop looking. Turn you head the other way and find something else to do for a little while. NO PEAKING OK. This is bonding/feeding time for the child and we are not putting ourselves on display for you. It’s about baby and mommy. THANK YOU

  11. I am the mother of 2, a 20 month old and a 8 week old. I breastfed both of my children, my first for 13 months and my newborn will nurse for at least a year. I agree that people should be descrict about breastfeeding but there are times where the child is not cooperating so people may get a peak.
    My husband and I find it disconcerting that you turn on the television and you see breasts everywhere, but if I’m nursing in public I now realize I have to fear that I may be harrassed or even threatened to be arrested. Why is it that people aren’t hollering and screaming about the breasts our children see on television?
    Also my 20 month old watches “mommy” nurse and if I’m getting dressed will point and say “baby eat.” She understands that I am equipt to feed her brother. So it is VERY simple to explain to your children why the baby is on the breast.
    The best food for our children is breastmilk. Why should we be forbidden to give them that nourishment when we are in public. Also someone said that we should pump and use that milk. First off pumps can be expensive. Secondly some people can’t pump and get enough to feed their child. Thirdly why should I have to figure out a way to warm up my milk, since it has to be refridgerated or frozen after it’s pumped, in a public place when I can nurse so much easier??
    I think our country has become very backwards when you see breasts everywhere you look, but if someone is nourishing their child they are asked to hide in a bathroom or hide in our cars (heaven forbid someone accidently looks in while we’re nursing there either).

  12. especially when babies are really small they need to be constantly fed. saying you cannot do that is ridiculous

  13. saying that a woman is not allowed to breastfeed her child is like saying you are not allowed to provide sustinace to your child as long as you are in public. of course you can feed your baby. doing something that is providing food for your child is not the same as bareign your breasts in public like them girls gone wwild girlz its completeley different

  14. you all are all STUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  15. Do you eat in a bathroom or feed your baby from a toilet seat? So why would you ask someone else to do that to their baby?

    America needs to grow the F up and stop being so prudish about everything. Breastfeeding is about feeding, not the breast!!!!

  16. I was a very activie new mom mom and I chose not to brestfeed becasue I did not want to offend people when the time and place did ot permit. I regret the decision I made. I feel that i slightly my children. Unfortunatly some people refuse to see that breastfeding is natural a beneifical way of feeding a baby. I also think that anyone who makes a big deal about it and see it anyother way than a source of nourishment has a problem and may need pychological help. As for Target… Shame on you for supporting the over-zealous behavior of the employee. This is a family store and a baby is surely the flower bud of the family..I will not shop at your stores again

  17. Wendy im gonna be a mom in the beginning of Feb. I dnt see a prob wit this lady breast feeding in public. Thngs happen and if they cnt understand that babies get hungry they are ignorant. I plan on breastfeeding and if i have to in public than so be it.

  18. i find it sicking i hate to be sitting in a resturant with my family and a woman whips her boob out to feed ugg go to the bathroom no one wants to see it or hear it did the mother not hear of the pump she could have pumped and used a bottle to save heself from all this crazyness

  19. I’m a parent who didn’t favor breastfeeding,but I know that if I had I wouldn’t want anyone else to see me doing it. I think that is a situation that calls for privacy. Not everyone wants to see that,I know it would make me uncomfortable. But I think just going to the restroom with your clorox wipes & spray & just being prepared ahead of time if you think you’re gonna have to feed the baby would be a better thing. I’m a day late with my comment (show aired yesterday) but I just had to make one.

  20. I am currently breastfeeding my 9 week old baby and other than the bonding experience it isnt fun. It is a lot of work and a huge commitment. That being said, I’m sure there are 101 things this woman would have rather been doing than stopping in the middle of Target to breastfeed. It is something that we would prefer to be a private moment someplace comfortable (i.e. not in a public place) but when the baby is hungry you have to do what you have to do. The fact that Target views this as inappropriate or anything other than natural and beneficial for the baby is disgusting to me. For those who think she should have gone to the bathroom or in her car…shame on them. So she is supposed to leave her cart in the middle of the store, walk to the car, breastfeed, return to the store and hope that her cart is still there so she doesn’t have to start shopping all over again OR BETTER YET sit in a stall in a bacteria ridden bathroom exposing her 4 week old to all sorts of germs so that others aren’t “offended”?! Seriously?? I shop at Target and even have a store credit card. I am contemplating cancelling my card and not shopping there as a result. If Target is that concerned about it, have them build “family” restrooms with changing tables and breastfeeding stations (as other retailers have done). If this seems too costly an endeavor then they should zip it and let women do what we have done for centuries…nourish our babies.

« Older Comments
Newer Comments »

Leave a Reply





(required)

« | »
Download Wendy's Theme Song on iTunes
DEBMAR MERCURY © TALK WW PRODUCTION, INC.
PRIVACY POLICY  TERMS OF USE  CONTACT US