Advocacy & Activism: Why gentle Advice and Guidance is Better Than Fear-Mongering

Written by: Beckah

Edited by: Tijana

Advocacy and activism- You might ask why I am writing this and what is my point in comparing the two? What's good or bad about one or the other? What's the beef? Why the negative connotation? I'll tell you.

We all know that children don't come with how-to manuals. We all know that people give unsolicited (and unwelcome) advice. "You're holding her wrong." "You're holding him too much, don't spoil him." "He's still breastfed? Time to wean!" "WHY aren't you breastfeeding?" One of mommy's biggest pet peeves, yes? We want to figure it out on our own and when we want to know more, we will search it out by asking a friend or taking to our friend Mr. "Google" with his copious amounts of helpful links. Right?

The problem with advice given by well-meaning parents or care providers is that it's difficult to determine if they want to push an agenda or are really trying to help you. I call this advocacy versus activism. 

This is solely my experience and my opinion based on my experience. Although they are on the same level in many ways, there is a huge difference between advocacy and activism. Meaning one similarity is that we are all out there, trying to make a difference. On the other hand, advocacy encourages gentle advice, love and encouragement. Putting your information out there at home plate, instead of searching people out. Activism (which I am COMPLETELY guilty of in the past), I have found, is fraught with people driven by fear, resentment and anger. There are many injustices that need to be rectified in this world. They will all be resolved with time and love. Fear-mongering and the pushing of agendas scares people away. Activism is alarmist. Advocacy is gentle, loving and understanding. There is no black and white. There is always space between those lines for a bit of gray.

Advocacy promotes drawing out the circle of influence out through awareness, whereas activism often focuses all attention on negative feedback and attacking instead of reaching an equal solution.

How do I define an activist vs. advocate?

Here is an example of what I mean. Which statements are you more likely to follow along with or ask more about? Which do you think is lactivist and which do you think is breastfeeding advocate?

Breastmilk and Formula

"You're formula feeding? That stuff is POISON! Why didn't you get donor milk? You probably didn't try hard enough to breastfeed."

OR (if you choose to say anything at all)

"Don't feel ashamed or feel like a failure. It sounds like you tried your best with the support you had. I know you're a good mom and have your baby's best interest at heart."

And so on and so forth with the rest of the "mommy wars" topics. My position in all of this? I'm an advocate. I do slip up at times when passion takes over and push my beliefs. But it's not who I want to be as far as making changes in the parenting world. I strive to make all options known to parents that are interested in knowing. Nothing is more rewarding than giving advice to someone who asks and hearing a success story or a simple thank you for the gentle and understanding information I've given.

This is Naturo-Mommy's philosophy: A safe-haven for parents seeking information without fear of criticism or ridicule for choosing differently. Our biggest goal is parents making informed decisions based on reliable data and proof.

Naturo-Mommy's Monthly WAHM Product Review- Featuring: Baby Monsters Boutique

Easter Tutu by Baby Monsters Boutique

Thank you for viewing our second monthly WAHM Product Review! We at Naturo-Mommy are thrilled to see that requests to be featured in our monthly WAHM Product Review are coming in. We want to see you on our page and we want to see your business grow!

This month, we are featuring a BRAND NEW WAHM Product! We are proud to introduce Christina, of Baby Monsters Boutique. This little operation started out like many WAHM businesses. It was a hobby for Christina that filled her time and as she made things for her adorable girls.

Her hobby quickly blossomed into requests from friends and then a full fledged small business venture. Baby Monsters Boutique specializes in adorable tutus and headbands for little girls.

As you know, when we do reviews at Naturo-Mommy, we have a product sent to us to use for review. We were sent a Patriotic (4th of July) Tutu along with a red crocheted headband with a beautiful fabric flower clip attached.

I received the tutu and headband only 3 days after request. (this was from California to Montana) They were packaged neatly and were undamaged upon opening.

These accessories were tailored for a little girl and not an adult size, so I decided to have my 3 year old daughter do a little modeling for me.

My daughter LOVED putting on the tutu and headband. She said she was "a sparkly princess." These were easy to put on, (even for a wriggly 3 year old.) The headband came custom with the fabric flower clip that just slid into the crocheted latices of the headband. Everything was secure, snug and fit perfectly for her size and the age I ordered for.

 

We had loads of fun taking pictures for this review as well. I will show a few more of her (just because she's so darn cute) and move onto the conclusion.

Isn't she a peach? Just love her to death!

Alright! In conclusion, this product is well thought out. Not only can you order tutus, but a headband with accessory. Bonus for moms who want an extra pretty for their little girl! The order was shipped in a timely manner and was undamaged upon opening.

Shipping is INTERNATIONAL with EXACT shipping fees included in the total of the purchase. She welcomes custom orders. Orders can be made through their Facebook page and email (babymonstersboutique@yahoo.com) until arrangements are made for a larger clientele base.

For more information on being featured in our monthly review, please email us at naturo_mommy2@yahoo.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder- This Means You

Every woman has her own perception of beauty. But for many, they have the media's perception of what beauty is or what we're told beauty or perfection is. And it starts at a very young age. One web article that comes to mind, written by Lisa Bloom titled How to Talk to Little Girls, expresses that the media's impression is put upon girls at a young age. Even before the media can REACH them, when adults gush about how beautiful or gorgeous those bows and dresses are on them. One quote from the article: "In my book, Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World, I reveal that 15 to 18 percent of girls under 12 now wear mascara, eyeliner and lipstick regularly; eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down; and 25 percent of young American women would rather win America's Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize. Even bright, successful college women say they'd rather be hot than smart. A Miami mom just died from cosmetic surgery, leaving behind two teenagers." That's another post in and of itself.

A dear friend of mine, Chelsea, (who has expressed she does not wish to be anonymous) wrote a very touching, raw and truthful post about her struggles with body image, placed on her by the media. One of many victims to society's portrayal of beauty. I learned a thing or two about body image and about myself after reading her heartfelt words. (And I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry while reading them) She's smart, funny, so fun to be around and doesn't take any bull from anybody. She's an amazing mother, daughter, wife and friend.

I can go on for days on this subject, but her words say it all. Hence, why I have only written 2 paragraphs.

 Chelsea, at 18, Senior picture

    I am a woman. I am 22 years old. I have unruly, naturally brown hair that is subject to change from blonde to purple depending on my mood. My eyes are blue. My complexion is scarred from acne, and constantly reddened by slight rosacea. I am five-foot even and somewhere around 205 pounds—my scale is not accurate, that seems to be the average. My breasts are not the same as before I had children, and neither are my hips; both have been widened and the skin is not firm. Stretch marks line my hips and stomach, which is strong, but not firm. My thighs rub together when I walk and I am constantly on the hunt for a pair of jeans that won’t wear out there for the next few years. It’s a pipe dream. I have no pinky toenail on either of my feet.

       When I was a child, I wasn’t small, except in height. I was bullied by my peers about my weight and acne, among many other factors, to the point that at ten years old, I told my mom I wanted to die. When I was in middle school and high school I struggled with my weight, eating disorders, miracle acne cures and ‘the swimsuit for all body types’. They never seemed to provide one to flatter my body type. I would spend hours in front of my bathroom mirror, praying for the strength to be better, to do better, to eat less and exercise more. I took my pocketknife to my skin. I strived to be perfect, like the models in magazines. Firm stomach, tiny waist, thin arms and thighs. Stop biting your nails. Makeup, makeup, makeup. Cover the imperfections. My entire high school experience was unhappy as I strived for an impossible goal. The worst part was I was too good at acting. Some of my friends noticed the little things. The big things stayed buried so deeply, I didn’t even realize I wanted someone to see them.  

       I was lucky. I never hurt myself physically so badly that I was hospitalized or anything. However, so many women aren’t lucky. They get in too deep and can’t get themselves out. This past July, Fiona Geraghty hanged herself in her parent’s home because she was bullied by her own classmates about her weight. She was bulimic. Prior to her death, she was sent for therapy. After only four therapeutic sessions, she was released back into the caustic environment that served to push her to suicide. The average length of an inpatient stay is 83 days. Even that, experts say, is often well below how long many girls need to stay, and is often dictated by money. Imagine that? Less than three months to undo months, sometimes years, of damage to self-esteem.

       When I researched the information about Fiona, I was led to a website. In this heartbreaking article about this beautiful young girl who died as a direct cause to her feeling like nothing because of her body, I found fourteen links to articles where celebrities’ bodies were the main focus—how sexy and skinny and toned they looked; and I only went down as far as the article itself went—about a third of the way down the page. The links went on for much longer. What does that say about our true feelings on the subject? The truth is, it’s like putting a band-aid on when you’ve cut your finger off.

       I have been with my husband for almost five years now. In that time, he has done everything he can to take away the timid, shy, insecure parts of me and teach me how to be strong and confident in not only my body but my actions. Now, I’m not saying that the right man can fix everything—that’s just bullshit, excuse my language. I was just lucky to find someone that could help me be strong enough to face my fears and be better for them. What’s that saying—you can lead the horse to water but you can’t make him drink. My husband convinced me to trade my Vogue and Women’s Health magazines for craft magazines to expand my creativity. He stood behind me in the mirror and showed me how instead of ugly scars that marred my stomach, my stretch marks were symbols of the strength I had inside of me to carry and give birth to our children, and how each one was beautiful. He complimented my strong thighs each time I carried a load of groceries up the 27-step-high staircase to our apartment. He held me close as he whispered how he loved my curves.

       About a year after having my first son, I began to fall back into old habits. It lasted three months before I became pregnant again and my husband voiced his concerns about what he thought he may have been seeing. I vowed, never again. I threw myself into research, looking up ‘how to feel good about yourself’ and the like. Everything looked like those hand-outs you get in Health class about body image. Every body is beautiful, every body is unique and no one is better than anyone else for how they look. Once again, I have to call bullshit. Every girl in those classes rolls their eyes and continues to write notes to their friends about how their female P.E. coach looks like David Hasselhoff. I stayed stagnant on how I felt about myself for about a year. I didn’t like how I looked, but what could I do about it? I joined a gym; that lasted about a month before the insecurities of being in exercise gear and being ‘jiggly’ in front of fit, beautiful, tanned women got the better of me and I retreated with my tail between my legs. Then I ran across a book I’d had for ages, but never really opened, called The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form. There I found Titian’s Venus with the Organ Player. A beautiful, detailed, romantic painting, featuring a woman who by today’s standards would be considered obese.  I knew right then that I would make it my goal to look at myself as Titian looked at the women in his paintings.

       From there, I discovered a young woman purely by chance, called Gabi Gregg; a big girl with a big attitude and an even bigger love of fashion. You may recognize her as the ‘fatkini girl’. She’s a size 18 who is proud to show her body and wears what she loves, even if modern-day etiquette claims that she isn’t allowed to. My biggest desire is to have her outlook on how I love my body.

       I walked a long, hard road to get to where I am now. Every day I read a post on Facebook about so-and-so going on another diet, or hear my friend’s 12 year old daughter—12 years old!—say she’s fat as she simply grows from a child’s body to a young woman’s body, or see a commercial about how HCG—which is basically glorified anorexia—can get you that dream body. Our culture is so obsessed with how we look, we will give up our health to be what society says we should be. As women, we starve our bodies to look like prepubescent girls. We take in UV rays, we accept cancer into our bodies so that we can be tan. We spend thousands of dollars to let doctors take knives to our bodies to alter them in surgeries that could kill us. We cake makeup on our faces to look the ideal of perfect when in reality, every man I’ve asked hates it when women wear makeup. Can anyone tell what is wrong with this picture?

       I ask everyone to please, please, consider what I’m writing here. I’m not saying makeup and hair dye and clothes and nail polish are bad. I myself love to play with funky-colored hair and eye-shadow. I love buying new clothes. But there is a severe difference between doing those things for fun, and doing them to play into the media’s hands. Don’t let yourself believe that your only worth is how you look. Don’t let yourself believe that you aren’t worth what she’s worth because she has ‘better’ breasts or a ‘better’ stomach. Don’t even let yourself think, ‘I wish I had her…’ fill in the blank. Don’t judge your value on society’s perception of beautiful. If you have glasses, so what? If you have crooked teeth and they function just fine, you don’t need braces. If you gain weight, then you gain weight. It’s not the end of the world. Every woman is beautiful exactly how she is. I want you to look up pictures online. Use the terms 'real women' and even 'big women' if you're a big girl. You think long and hard and decide which example you want to be.

       Mothers, fathers, please. Teach your daughters that the real worth of a woman is the strength inside her to rise above what anyone says she is incapable of. Her worth is in her capabilities and her love, her compassion. Mothers, if you see a woman on TV, or in the store, or in a magazine don’t ever say ‘I wish I could look like her’. Girls look up to their mothers as the model of perfection inside and out. If you say something negative about your body, your daughter will think that something is wrong with hers. Don’t tell her she’s getting chubby or she needs to cover up a flaw or ‘you’re too big to wear that’. Instead of letting her read fashion magazines and the like, let her explore her individuality by encouraging her to do the things she loves—if she likes horses, get her books about them; if she has an interest in martial arts, let her check out a dojo. Never tell her she doesn’t have the patience or attention to do something she’s interested in. Give your daughter support and love above all else.

       Thank you for reading my little rant. This is not everything I have to say on the subject, but all that I could think of in such a short time span. Please take what I have to say to heart. Check out the links. Look up pictures. Find your own role models, based on what they stand for. And above all else, never ever let someone else dictate how you should love yourself.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2162187/Fashion-magazines-blame-suicide-public-schoolgirl-taunted-weight-hanged-says-coroner.html

http://www.blog.drsarahravin.com/eating-disorders/10-common-mistakes-in-eating-disorder-treatment/

http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm

http://www.shafe.co.uk/art/Titian_Venus_with_Organist.asp

http://www.gabifresh.com/

Very First WAHM Product Review: Paperless Coloring Book!

We are proud to announce that we are launching a monthly Work At Home Mom product review. If you have items you repurpose or make to sell, please send Naturo-Mommy one to try so we can give you a good review and you build your reputation!

For our first product review, we are featuring Nix the Paper's pocket sized paperless coloring book specially made to save paper and save your walls from being colored on when the kiddos run out of paper to color on. *thumbs up!* If you go to their website or Facebook page, you can see the selection of fabrics you can choose from for your coloring book. I chose this awesome rockstar fabric. These coloring books also come in a standard coloring book size, for a fair price!

Okay, so this is the beautiful book that was sent to Naturo-Mommy owner. It has a snap clasp to keep it closed and an elastic strip for easy and convenient carrying.

This size comes with 3 oil pastel crayons that come out of fabric and off of walls with an easy wipe, if your child gets more "creative." It also comes with a surged square of terry to wipe the pages clean once you or your child are ready to start over on the pages.

The pages are made out of chalkboard fabric, that is surged to prevent fraying. This book comes with three pages. The larger size comes with more pages and more crayons. You can see how clean and wonderfully the crayons draw onto the fabric.

Wiping down the fabric with the terry....

Perfectly clean! Good as new! You can see on the left side of the book it has a fabric pocket to hold the crayons and cleaning cloth for safe keeping as well.

My daughter is 3 and absolutely LOVED this book! When I tried it out, she was extremely jealous that I was coloring and not her. She loved that she could start over whenever she wanted with a quick wipe of the terry cloth. (you can see my son's hand coming into the picture. He wanted that crayon!)

 Loving drawing with this new book!

I think we have a satisfied "customer" on our hands. 

Conclusion: Overall, this product is well thought out, cute and fun. I was happy with how easily it could be cleaned with the cloth. It IS machine washable if absolutely needed. It is not recommended to continuously machine wash it, as it won't last as long. I ordered one for my 2 year-old niece for a stocking stuffer at xmas and she's in love with it!

Please check out Nix The Paper's other products on their website and Facebook page! I can guarantee satisfaction.

For more information on being featured in our monthly review, please email us at naturo_mommy2@yahoo.com or message us on our Facebook Page!

A Lot More Than A Nurse-In!

What started out as a peaceful day, mall-shopping with her family, turned into an unpleasant encounter after Brittany Warfield started feeding her baby from her breast on December 27th. She was covered, hiding any possible skin from view. A manager from a Hollister Co. store came out of the store, yelling at her to stop and move and that she "couldn't do that there." After informing him of the laws, he told her to move because of her stroller, which he claimed was blocking the entrance. (and it wasn't)

Today, there was a nationwide nurse-in(even extending into Canada!), of all the Hollister stores within malls. At 3PM, women all over the United States and part of Canada plopped down beside Hollister entrances and breastfed their babies. It wasn't so cut and dry for all of the locations that held nurse-ins, though.

In Concord Mall of Wilmington, Delaware, there were 3 mothers that were approached by mall security, telling them that what they were doing was indecent exposure and that "if they exposed themselves again, they would be removed." A cop showed up, asking if there was any problem. He left without issuing any citation because the laws states that they could breastfeed anywhere they were permitted to be, which the security guards were not educated on.

(left officer, middle Jessica Hitchens, right, mall security)

After all was said and done, no one was written tickets, no one had to leave. But it still had to be said that these women were harassed! Since these nurse-ins formulated from one Facebook event page, this incident was reported right back to the page. The mall's Facebook Business page was pulled up and a few mothers (myself included) wrote our thoughts down on their wall. I was able to get screenshots of what was said by one mother and what the mall then responded with.

(one mother wrote on their wall, mall responds and I write a comment) photo property of Naturo-Mommy

Only 4 minutes later, Michelle, the mother that posted, captured this photo of all the comments before they started getting deleted by Concord Mall. 

Photo credit and property of Michelle DeanRuben

The person in charge of the mall's Facebook page then starts writing expletives, shocking hundreds of people, after seeing it saying, "It was an eyesore" and "Hope you guys don't mind if I suck my wife's breast in public."

These actions were not only distasteful and uneducated, but they were downright unprofessional. Being labelled a non-breastfeeding friendly establishment is not a good thing! After this fiasco, the mall deletes their Facebook page and insists that there never was a Facebook page, despite proof of there being one and having a widget on their website for their Facebook page.

Photo courtesy of Rachelle Lesteshen

Now there is most likely to be another nurse-in for the mall instead of that Hollister store because they were not educated on laws, had no policies in place to protect breastfeeding mothers, they insisted these women be punished by being given citations for indecent exposure, there was no apology and when the incident came to light and the mall saw, they not only did not apologize, they made lewd, uneducated comments about their wife's breast and the act of feeding children. Concord Mall of Wilmington, DE, we wouldn't be so upset if you would educate your staff and be professional and if you wouldn't lie and try to cover it up.

Even if you lose a bit of face, people will respect you again if you apologize and right this horrible wrong.

Breastfeeding in the Holiday Season: TEN WAYS to Eliminate, Educate & Elude Confrontation

Photo courtesy of www.lactivist.co.uk

The holidays are a wonderful time to get together with family and friends. The warmth and cheer and the good food are enough to fill a person's heart with contentment to advance into the next year in a good way. I, for one love Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. And for those that don't celebrate these holidays, there is Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ashura, among many others. Breastfeeding can be daunting in and of itself. A lot of women don't  have the courage to do it in public, around strangers. Breastfeeding around family members who are unsupportive or unfamiliar with it can be even more daunting. One reason being, that you know them and you have to face them on a regular basis. Or, at least, once a year.

You may be confronted by family members with rude comments or dirty looks and feel the need to leave the room to avoid these confrontations. If you feel most comfortable being in another room, by all means, do what you feel suits you best. But for a lot of breastfeeding mothers, they may not want to leave the room and miss the festivities. Which, in a lot of cases, you may be there longer than one feed for your baby or child and this can cause a lot of missed time with family and friends.

If you feel you may be confronted at these gatherings, there are many ways to go about avoiding them or standing up for yourself and your baby to make your holiday stress free and family friendly. I have asked some mothers to share their experiences, breastfeeding during the holidays. Here are a few:

Jessica writes:
'My youngest son was born in March, so by the time Thanksgiving came around
that year, he had already passed the "recommended" '6 month cut off'. I had never been shy about nursing in public, and
my family knew that well. I would proudly lift my shirt anywhere and
everywhere. Thanksgiving that year, I'm at my aunts house, trying to eat my
food, get my then 3 year old to eat anything I could get him to try, and my
8 month old was hungry.

I put him in the ring sling and situate it so no one could really see anything other than his
head, just out of respect for it not being my home. My uncle got up and left, came back
and grabbed his children. That made other family members take notice and they all got up
and left. Then designated my aunt to come in and tell me how inappropriate
that was to "whip out a tit" at the family table. And how no one felt
comfortable eating in the same room as me, if I could please go eat alone,
in another room. I smiled and said no, and continued eating. After that, I
didn't speak to anyone. I made an extra plate to take home and packed up
and left.

By Christmas I thought it was settled. We arrived at Christmas dinner though, and
the first thing out of their mouths was asking if I brought a bottle so I wouldn't flash people
again.

I wish I could say that my story has a happy ending, but it never happened. I went on
to breastfeed my son fora total of 29 months. My family is still very unsupportive of
 breastfeeding but I don't let it bother me, and I have no plan on adjusting my "behavior" for
their needs, as my job is to fulfill my child's needs.'

Lisa says: '"You're STILL breastfeeding? Isn't he going to become too dependent on you?! (said of my then 1.5 yr old)…"'

Jennifer writes: "My husband’s parents came up for a belated Christmas this past January. At the time, my daughter was 5.5 months old and still exclusively breast fed. I didn’t think anything of nursing her in the living room with my in-laws in the room. Apparently, this made the step dad uncomfortable, but we didn’t know that until a couple days later when my husband's mom called to tell him. They expected me to go into another room to nurse my baby, in my own house. My husband was appropriately outraged, as was I. His mom even went so far as to say, and I quote, “I don’t appreciate her whipping out her breast in front of my husband.” As though I was trying to seduce a man twice my age by feeding my baby. Since then, the relationship has been strained, at best. It’s unfortunate that people are so narrow minded and prudish about the act of breastfeeding, but I refuse to alter the way I feed my children simply for someone else’s comfort, especially within the walls of my own home. I’m still breastfeeding my daughter, now 15 months old, and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon."

There is also attire you can wear, so that if it's not practical or comfortable to cover, you can go uncovered without showing much. When in public, I do not cover because we are not comfortable that way. I wear a tank top under a shirt and pull up the t-shirt and pull down the tank top. Of course, there is nursing attire, but if you're on a tight budget, like me, you work with what you have. There is often little to nothing shown when I use the shirt-tank method and we're both happy that way.


While these situations are often unavoidable, there are ways to diffuse them. Here is a list of 10 things you can do or say, if you are comfortable:

1. Using a cover is always an option, if you and baby are comfortable.
2. You may use this time to educate family members or friends. Just a short blurb about the benefits of exclusively breastfeeding or extended breastfeeding.
3. You may say things like "That sounds like it worked out for your children, but this is what works for our children and we are happy."
4. Get the support of another family member or your spouse beforehand to intervene, so you have an advocate.
5. Laugh and make a joke about how you promise not to wave your nipple like the breastfeeding banner without a child attached.
6. If they mention that there are children in the room & they don't know what to tell them, offer to explain to the children what is happening so the parents don't have to try to answer their questions.
7. When talking about breastfeeding, remember to smile and sound light hearted. Hopefully, putting off the defensive stance your family member or friend may have.
8. If you're asked why you haven't put it in a bottle, explain that you (and these are just examples) a) can't pump b) baby won't take a bottle c) you couldn't pump enough for baby for the holiday gathering d) you forgot your pumped milk
9. If they offer solids, say that you're worried about an allergy or tell them that it is not recommended by AAP or WHO to introduce solids before "X" months or that they can't have (insert name of food) until "X" age.
10. Your baby may have teeth and this also may prompt comments about solids: "Your baby should be eating food since he has teeth." "You're breastfeeding AGAIN? Here, give him this." You could say: "No thank you, we haven't introduced that into his diet yet."

I hope that giving these examples and experiences have helped you go into your holiday season a little less stressed and more confident in your choice to breastfeed your baby. Happy Holidays!

Best For Babes Creates a "911" for Nursing Mothers!

Best For Babes Foundation has created a hotline for women who breastfeed in public, who happen to get harassed in some way by a business owner or manager, or are in some way not protected by law. When you call the hotline, the incident is recorded with detail and dates. This hotline is necessary, because some women just don't have the support to have the big voice to change things that need changed. Another is so there is recorded proof of incidents for businesses that have caused breastfeeding mothers grief and for legislators to change state laws (like in Idaho and Georgia). Let's not forget the working mom, who may need to pump at work! I have heard countless stories of mothers not provided a place to pump because law does not require it. A friend of mine is still in high school and is breastfeeding. She needs to pump during school hours, but is afraid that her need to pump will result in resistence from teachers, as she had trouble even getting her assignments when she was on bed rest during her junior year in high school. Every breastfeeding mother needs to have this number in her phone, so she knows she has support and will be heard. This is a nursing mom's 911!

http://www.bestforbabes.org/announcing-1-855-nip-free-the-best-for-babes-nursing-in-public-harassment-hotline

Above is a link to information on the new hotline. Check it out, pass this along. Too many women stop breastfeeding or won't attempt to, due to harassment and lack of laws protecting their RIGHT to feed their babies the way nature intended. Please get this out there.

UPDATE!
Best For Babes launched their hotline last week. Since the launch, they have received several phone calls, reporting their experiences. This is NOT a made up problem. Women don't go "looking for" negative attention when they feed their babies in public. Women have a voice now, through BfB. There is strength in numbers and we all need to work together to normalize breastfeeding. Here is a link to their progress with the hotline after just one week:
http://www.bestforbabes.org/nip-hotline-news-8-harassment-incidences-in-first-week