The public face of breastfeeding: Mums campaign to raise awareness
Any time, any place, anywhere: Mothers’ call for more tolerance
They say you can’t be what you can’t see.
And for new mums across Scotland, experts say the lack of a positive visual or media representation of breastfeeding in public has led to a huge number feeling uncomfortable about feeding their babies outside the home.
It’s been illegal in Scotland for more than a decade to prevent children under two being breastfed in a public place, yet more than a quarter of new mums told the Scottish Maternal and Infant Nutrition Survey last year that they felt, or had been made to feel, uncomfortable while breastfeeding in public. A new awareness campaign, #Feedon, pioneered by the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM) and RN Studio in London, features images of more than 40 mothers breastfeeding at landmarks across Britain.
The campaign coincides with National Breastfeeding Week, which ends on June 26, and aims to normalise breastfeeding in public. Emma Pickett, chairwoman of the ABM, believes imagery is one of the best ways to change opinions. She said: “If you’re seeing breastfeeding mothers in public frequently on social media or on TV or in the press, it becomes normalised.”
The UK has one of the lowest rates of breastfeeding mothers in the world, with only 1% of babies still breastfed at five months. Campaigner Vicki Leaver, a Perthshire mum of two, knows only too well reasons mothers may be too scared to breastfeed in public.
“I’ve had people glare at me, tell me I’m disgusting and tell me I’m putting them off their food,” she said.
Vicki has launched the Tea for Two Cafe, which invites new mums to breastfeed publicly at more than 100 cafes in Scotland during National Breastfeeding week.