Push for public breast-feeding
reast-feeding mothers should be free to feed their babies in public spaces like malls and restaurants without harassment from disapproving strangers.
This is the view of a growing social movement of more than 700 women, including health experts and academics, called Normalise Public Breastfeeding in South Africa (NPBSA) which is gaining momentum on social media and through an online petition calling for legislation to criminalise discrimination against mothers who breastfeed in public.
Anél Olsson, a founder of NPBSA, said the movement had worked with international human rights and constitutional lawyer Helen Ilitha to draft a proposed bill to criminalise the act of interfering with breast-feeding mothers, which includes refusing to allow women to breast-feed in public and asking them to cover up.
Ilitha was instrumental in a successful campaign in Scotland that led to the criminalisation of discrimination against mothers’ nursing in public.
Olsson said the movement was also proposing amendments to the Equality Act to allow breast-feeding mothers to file civil cases for damages, and changes to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act to allow for longer breaks for mothers to express milk.
Health experts and religious leaders have come out in varying levels of support for the movement, saying the benefits of breast-feeding – which include scientific evidence of breast-fed babies displaying stronger immunity and higher IQs and a reduced chance of mother’s developing non-communicable diseases – also have far-reaching consequences for the fight against poverty and economic development.
Olsson highlighted some of the recent cases of discrimination against breast-feeding mothers that led to the formation of the movement, adding that online trolls had likened breast-feeding to performing a sexual act or to urinating in public.
Tasneem Botha was chased out of Edgars in Cavendish Square in Cape Town in March when a manager told her that she was not allowed to breastfeed her baby in the store. She turned to Facebook to vent her anger.
An air hostess on a Kulula flight reprimanded Dr Sarah Kate Hooper for discreetly breast-feeding her daughter on a domestic flight. Her outrage went viral on social media earlier this month.
Bernie Brooks, the chief executive of Edgars’ parent company Edcon, has since apologised for the incident and promised to ensure staff will in future support breast-feeding mothers. Kulula’s management apologised too, saying it was a serious matter that would be investigated.
Olsson said when she started a NPBSA Facebook page, harassment complaints poured in thick and fast and mothers started organised public breast-feeding sit-ins.
“There is this concert playing inside people’s head that it is a boob show, but really all you want to do is to feed your child. So if you see a mom breast-feeding, give her a thumbs-up, ask if you can cut her breakfast for her or if you can hold her tea cup,” she said.
But not all breast-feeding mothers have had a problem breast-feeding in public.
Sheetal Cross of Durban North breast-fed her son Kirthan, now 3, without incident for six months.
Cross said family and friends had advocated breast-feeding “although I have not seen many Indian women breast-feeding in public, in my experience those few who have, have done so discreetly. A few others have used alternative methods, like expressing breast milk into bottles for their trip.
“I feel that there is a cultural discipline of not exposing one’s body openly in public, but I have never heard of any Indian woman complaining of a backlash for discreetly breast-feeding her child in public. I don’t think it is an issue.”
However, Cross said she respected the conservative cultural views of others who did not want to see women exposed while breast-feeding.
KZN registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for the Association of Dietetics in SA, Nazeeia Sayed, said her organisation supported the NPBSA campaign as it encouraged a long overdue conversation about breast-feeding. “Ideally, moms should be able to feed anywhere and not in a specific area. If you have the right clothing and a feeding bra, you can breast-feed very discreetly.
“But some moms prefer privacy when feeding and it would be wonderful to see all shopping malls support them with a comfortable room to breast-feed,” Sayed said,
“When I was breast-feeding my daughter I would pretend to be trying on clothing and visit the changing room facilities in clothing shops – much easier to accommodate a pram and much nicer than the bathroom.”
Sayed said SA had a low exclusive breast-feeding rate during the first six months of life, which contributed to poor growth, malnutrition and illness.
“Breast-feeding has many benefits for baby, mum and society. Babies receive the best in nutrition with breast milk.
“Breast milk is a live dynamic food that changes with the baby’s needs. Breast milk is hygienic, always at the right temperature, and contains immune factors, enzymes and growth factors,” Sayed said.
“Babies do not need anything else for the first six months of life. For moms, the benefits range from reducing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes and post-partum depression, to assisting with weight loss, and it strengthens the bond between mother and child.”
The Association for Dietetics of SA and international bodies, such as the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, encourage breast-feeding until age 2. Breast-feeding was identified as a critical foundation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, intended to end RELIGIOUS leaders have given breast-feeding in public the nod of approval, saying mothers should be free to give their babies the healthiest form of nutrition on demand.
Ashwin Trikamjee, president of the SA Hindu Maha Sabha, said mothers should be able to feed their babies without harassment as it was the healthiest and cheapest form of nutrition, and it was a mother’s choice whether to cover up with a blanket or garment while nursing.
“It is absolutely normal and it is a natural way of feeding a child, and people should not be reacting in any negative way whatsoever,” he said.
However, he said the Normalise Public Breastfeeding in SA call to criminalise discrimination against mothers might be taking the campaign too far, although amending the equity legislation would be a better way to deal with negativity.
“I don’t think a woman who is breast-feeding a child wants to see someone who disagrees with her going to jail,” he said.
Rt Rev Raj Moodley, KZN bishop of the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, said the norms of what was decent and practical in public places were changing constantly.
“There is nothing immodest in mothers feeding their children in public places, provided they act with care and propriety,” he said.
But he said the campaign to criminalise harassment was an “over-reaction” to public opinion.
“People need to be more tolerant of one another. There should be more grace and less of the law when it comes to situational ethics. This is not a criminal matter. It is more a civil and a social matter.”
Moodley said employers and businesses should make provision for breast-feeding mothers to feed their children.
“What is good can only come from God who is good and absolutely moral,” he said.
Faisal Suliman, chairman of the SA Muslim Network, said the organisation was “completely in favour” of breast-feeding and welcomed the initiative to promote breast-feeding in public. However, he said the Network was against the proposal to criminalise harassment.
“The Islamic guidelines are that women should cover themselves in public and not have of babies born every week were all breast-fed, billions of litres of water could be saved. A breastfeeding mother needs just three litres of water a day.
Witten added that research published in the Lancet medical journal earlier this year showed breast-feeding positively affects babies’ long term educational and earning potential.
The Breastfeeding Series found “breast-feeding (is) consistently associated with higher performance in intelligence tests in children and adolescents”, and higher IQ scores in turn are linked to higher earnings in adulthood.
But despite all the benefits, less than 7% of South African mothers currently breastfeed exclusively for six months, Witten said.
“Babies need mom-made, not man-made, science proves this conclusively. Because breast milk is not free – it costs time and commitment – we need to invest more in building a culture of breast-feeding.
“We need to support, educate and encourage mothers to keep breast-feeding for at least the first twelve months of their baby’s life.” parts of the body, especially the bosom, exposed, therefore it would be necessary for a Muslim woman to cover herself in public should she be breast-feeding,” Suliman said.
“This can, of course, be done in a manner that does not compromise the safety of the baby. In fact, this has been done for centuries in Muslim countries,” he said.
“We believe that with education and good manners, as has been done for centuries, women should be allowed to breast-feed without having to incur stares, especially if the woman is appropriately covered.”
Suliman said more could be done in places like malls to create rooms where mothers could breastfeed, without harassment, in a clean and comfortable environment.