Is public breastfeeding okay?

I ran across an article the other day that stated some parents are trying to bring breastfeeding back to public television - specifcally, "Sesame Street". "Sesame Street" is no stranger to this topic as it did air episodes in the 70's and 80's concerning breastfeeding. They were simple clips that didn't even show any part of an exposed breast, just a baby at it's mother's chest with either Big Bird or a curious child asking questions.

Needless to say, breastfeeding in public is very much a "hot topic." Most people can't stand it. Just last year a judge outlawed breastfeeding in his courtroom. The topic is so hot that even ABC's "What Would You Do" did a segment on public breastfeeding.

Back to "Sesame Street" parents for bringing back breastfeeding on the show, argue that children that watch the show (preschool age) are the ones with the most questions about what is going on. They would like to answer those questions without making a big deal out of it, and assure them that this is quite natural.

Bringing the topic home, my husband and I actually argued over this one extensively. I personally, find nothing wrong with public breastfeeding. Though being under the public's eye is a little hard for me to swallow - I would prefer to duck into a dressing room or extremely out of the way place or at the very least as drape a blanket over my baby and chest, so that nothing was visible. But, for the women that do cover up and don't mind breastfeeding at a baseball game or elsewhere, I say more power to them.

My husband however thinks it's not something that should be processed in public and his response to the argument of "it's a natural thing" was that sex is natural too, but we don't show that to our kids. Okay - I admit he had a valid argument there. But there was a time, not that long ago that more babies than not were breastfed. Plus, breastfeeding has been shown to have many good qualities and is still recommended above formula, especially for the first two weeks of a babies life.

Do we expect the mothers that have babies to never leave the house? For if you've ever had a baby, you know that their feeding schedule is demanding and frequent. If we don't want to experience these things in public but are not willing to help mothers get their groceries and mow their lawns, we need to install more breastfeeding rooms in public places. They don't take a lot of space, they don't require a lot - a chair and possibly a kids table - for a mother with more than one child that could color - while she feeds her child.

If people are more than happy to see the chests of underwear and swimsuit models on TV, love going to the PUBLIC beach to see the girls in bikinis, and don't mind the clothes of half of the "famous" people on the magazines in checkout aisles, then i fail to see why a women feeding her baby is "gross."

That's my thoughts and I'm sticking to them.....