Sep 4, 2009 5:03 pm US/Central
Chicago "Nurse-In" Supports Public Breastfeeding
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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60 mothers showed up for a "nurse-in" in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood on Sept. 4, 2009 to support the right to breastfeed in public.
CBS
The protests of the 60s from sit-ins to bra-burning had nothing on this. Sixty moms staged a nurse-in Friday, breastfeeding their babies in a Chicago park. They have a right to do it in public but as CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports, others said they feel it should be a private thing.
Lauren Trost was expecting about 20 mothers to show up. Three times that number came to support her.
"It's fantastic! It's so, so great! I was telling a mom earlier, I said I feel like the whole nursing community of Chicago just gave me a big hug today. It's really wonderful!" Trost said.
All of the breastfeeding mothers who staged the nurse-in in Lincoln Square on Friday came out to support Trost. They gathered in the same spot where Trost was recently criticized for breastfeeding her son in public.
"It really turned a negative experience into a really positive experience, so it's good," Trost said. She organized the nurse-in because she wanted to bring attention to the fact a mother is protected under Illinois law to breastfeed in public.
Some of the nursing mothers said they've had experiences like Trost.
"The guard came up to me and said 'Excuse me, you need to cover up.' And she clearly saw I was breast feeding," said Lauren Cohen.
Claire Shingler said, "I was at a gym and at my 4-year-old's swimming lesson, sitting poolside, feeding the baby and I was asked to go to the locker room."
About 60 mothers showed up. Some drove for hours to be there, like Amanda Wyatt from Valparaiso.
"Absolutely. I think it's important to support Lauren and all the other moms who breast feed in public and just breast feed in general."
A number of parenting and breastfeeding advocacy groups also showed up.
One woman asked us not to use her name, but she spoke out against the issue.
"I would like to see them do that at home," she said. "But today, you can do anything."
Mark Kriesemint, a father of five, said when his wife would breastfeed, "Well, she'd usually go off to the side, not in plain view of everybody."
Trost says no matter what a person's view, she's happy the event brought attention to public breast-feeding.
"It's really great that so many women who don't even know me showed up. I know one person here. The rest, strangers. It's really wonderful," Trost said.
Members from the La Leche League and Parents Work, also came out to support Troast. She said her friends are now calling her a lactavist. Troast said she's not taking the term lightly. She said she's thinking about planning another nurse-in at this same time, next year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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