It’s 2016 people, breastfeeding your baby wherever and whenever should be down-right normal…
It may be 2016 but you wouldn't be able to tell when it comes to breastfeeding – a topic that unfortunately prompts some pretty backward views.
Women who choose to feed their babies in public are often stigmatized with the act deemed inappropriate – mothers even forced to pump milk in the toilets at the 2016 Academy Awards. Yes, really.
With high profile women like Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek speaking out in defence of breastfeeding, progress is steadily being made – but still the world seems to be obsessed with one question: Is there a time and a place for breastfeeding?
21-year old Naomi Jael Covert, mother to 10-month old TJ, says no.
Just a few days ago, the army-wife from Vilseck, Germany, uploaded an Instagram picture or herself breastfeeding her baby boy at a friend’s wedding – and the Internet has gone mad.
Naomi captioned the snap simply, summing up what most women are thinking, ‘When you are at a wedding, wear fancy dresses and high heels. And if your baby gets hungry, well…you give no shits and feed the kid.’
The picture gained mass attention immediately, and after being regrammed by @empoweredbirthproject’s account, the photo (sporting the hashtags #normalizebreastfeeding and #breastfeedwithoutfear) raked up a whopping 12,000 likes and hundreds of comments: some empowered, some downright controversial.
So much so in fact, that the mother of one, bemused by the online attention took to Instagram again to edit her caption, adding:
‘EDIT: whoever gets mad about this – I also fed my son at the church ceremony IN the church. Here in Germany people don’t get mad about it. It is NORMAL. Nothing rude or bad about it. This is why I have breasts! Cause God gave me boobs for feeding my babies.’
Her images and bold statements appear to have divided the internet, turning her Instagram snap viral and her comment section into a heated debate.
Some took an annoyingly reserved approach, with one user commenting ‘What happened to table manners?! No one wants or needs to see THAT while eating, especially at a wedding’, whilst another person compared her breastfeeding to ‘shitting’ in public. Charming.
The majority however were inspired, one user commenting ‘Badass breastfeeding! Great job spreading awareness, even if that wasn’t your reason for posting this originally. It’s awesome.’
It is awesome and she definitely deserves praise – but we’re a little sad that breastfeeding your child in public is still so controversial in 2016 that it makes headline news.
Naomi seems to agree, uploading this picture of her husband - currently deployed - with the caption 'Most people know my husband is deployed right now! BUT this is him and his buddy John Steckman showing support - I was cracking up. People. Breastfeeding is normal. Blanket, no blanket because some kids will rip it of. In a corner or on a table. Get over it!!!! My husband supports me and that's all that matters.'
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