EDITED--Iparty Nurse-OUT, sponsored by Iparty, Saturday 4/28 at 10:00AM - Page 3

[rupiezum]

I wanted to wish everyone who's going well!! I can't make it today; we had a previous commitment that I haven't been able to shift back far enough.

[Nodtveidt]

We'd go, but it's way outside of driving distance, and unfortunately our car doesn't like the ocean too much... but we hope all goes well, and good luck to everyone who attends.

[melikahiwa]

I'm so wishing I was closer!

[Caly]

Originally Posted by BabyBoobieAddict

You don't have to be nursing...or a mom for that matter to be a lactivist. I hope tosee you there!!

Thanks Julie. I was there! I was the preggo w/the pink BFing shirt and 3 year old girl. I watched DS for a few minutes as everything came to a wrap. I'll let other recap but I will say it was wonderful to see so many ladies there. It was a nice experience.

[jessjgh1]

It was so nice to see everyone!! I sure hope to catch something in the press after this.

Melissa and Julie were amazing spokeswomen! (I could only hear little bits here and there- don't mean to omit anyone)

Jessica

[ErinsJuneBug]

Thank you to everyone that came!!! I was the one in the blue shirt with the 2year old daughter in pink.

It was so nice to meet all you mamas and support Melissa Tracy, i could really feel how happy she was to have us all behind her.

I brought my prego friend with me, and on the way home we stopped by babies r us to register her. She got a free gift for setting up a registry - guess what it was????

A pacifier and bottle <sigh>

So i said to the woman "wow, way to support breastfeeding"

and she snapped back "Not all babies latch on!"

I guess there is just a lack of breastfeeding education everywhere you go in Mass! Ok, well...i'm rambling now - but i did want to get more info from the mama who was talking about the Mass legislative day.

Thanks again to everyone!!! Julie - do you know what time we'll be on the news?

[Love_My_Bubba]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

Julie - do you know what time we'll be on the news?

I don't. My husband said that there was no mid day news so I'm going to keep an eye on the evening news (in Providene....which will have nothing: ). You'll have to let me knwo asap if the segments actually come out ok. I'm VERY interested to see how they portray the dialogue between the moms and the CEO of iParty: .

[Caly]

any updates? i went out to dinner this evening but tapped channel 5. I'm beat to see if anything was aired. Anyone happen to catch anything? I hate the thought of missing it.

[mimi5]

I saw the channel 5 evening news and the segment was great. They called it a "Nurse In" instead of a "Nurse Out", but did mention it wasn't a protest. They said that iParty would have chairs available for nursing moms since they are already stationed around the store. I wish I could remember more. I will see if it is on again tonight and I have it recorded on my DVR too. Oh wait, it's on. They are calling it "Band of Mothers". There was a sound bite of Dr. Tracy saying how humiliating the experience was and another bit of a dialogue between her and Sal, the iParty CEO. Then there was a sound bite of Sal saying that they are in the business of satisfying customers and their tiniest customers are the most important. I don't see anything up on the website yet.

I also saw Fox25's coverage which was excellent! They correctly called it a "Nurse Out" and briefly explained it in the intro (I had sent the assignment editor some info on that so maybe it helped). They had one sound bite from Dr. Tracy about making women who choose to breastfeed feel comfortable breastfeeding, not humiliated, and how she viewed this as "a celebration of progress". Julie, there was an excellent sound bite from you on this being about the babies' rights and how it is your job as a parent to speak up for your child. They emphasized how iParty will be training its emplyees in the future to be sensitive and helpful to nursing moms. After the segment the "banter" between the anchors was excellent as well. Bianca de la Garza said that it was a nice way to "spread the word and provide a little education" and Mark Ockerbloom said that it was nice to see "a happy resolution". Bianca commented on how cute the babies were and Mark agreed. This will hopefully repeat again tomorrow and Monday. The weekday morning shows have the most viewer feedback opportunities.

Well, why shoud you read about it when you could watch it (all but the final "banter"):

http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pag...Y&pageId=3.1.1

Here is the link to the blog about it:

http://community.myfoxboston.com/blo...ding_in_Public

Q's comments are excellent, but a brief glance at the responses say she needs some back-up. Please, please, please respond!! I know this station really well and they really pay attention to viewer comments.

Also, here is the link to "this week in review". Towards the end there is a clip of one of the anchors, VB, breastfeeding a doll outside the Beacon Hill studio (it looks like the same footage from the Delta Nuse In actually. After they showed it the first time they read my nursing in public tips on the air).

http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pag...Day?pageId=5.2

Sorry so long!
Elizabeth

[Guenevere33]

Great Job Ladies!/ All the info!

I was there for the iParty Nurse-out and I have to say it was great to finally put names to faces and meet some of you! I'm Meghan the Midwifery student who wore the yellow dress! I'm so glad it worked out so well and I'm really glad you all liked the lactivist cards! I was really thrilled to find them. Lots of people asked me where I got them and the web address is on the bottom of the card but here it is anyway for those of you who may not have gotten one. They come in packs of 25 FOR $6.50 and come in a nice protective plastic case with a photo of the site owner's daughter nursing her baby doll! Soooo cute! Look under the Advocasy tab to the left of the home page. They have all kinds of cool stuff! http://www.attachmentscatalog.com/index.html
Also some people asked where I would be attending Midwifery school so I'll give that info too. I'll be starting at Birthwise School of Mdwifery in Bridgtom, ME in September. Between now and then I am taking all kinds of independant classes and have my Doula training in June at Birthroots in Portland, ME which is where I have taken most of my birth related classes so far and I couldn't reccomend them and more highly for new parents or parents to be!
http://www.birthwisemidwifery.org/
http://www.ourbirthroots.org/
Lastly some of you asked about where you could learn more about Midwifery and a book that I feel is essential is Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin, it covers just about everything and has some great birth stories too! Her other book Spiritual Midwifery is great too but it was written much longer ago and if you can get past the constant giggling you'll do at the 60's lingo it's very enjoyable! I also highly reccomend Birthing From Within by Pam England. Have any of you already read these and what do you think? Anyway there are all the various answers to the questions people asked me at the Nurse-out today! Sorry if this was a long post!
Blessings and Peace,
Meghan

[woodchick]

Hello from Rebecca (w/ husband Peter and Catherine in the pink overalls)

We had a great time on Saturday. Here's our post about it: http://prwdot.org/2007/04/28/nursing-out/

Chatting with other mamas and spreading the word to the media was great. I also had the opportunity to talk with two not-yet-moms who happened to come in to see what was going on. They had many of the typical "why breastfeed" questions and were genuinely interested in our point of view. I'm sure that they looked at breastfeeding in a different light than when they walked in. Score one for us!

[rupiezum]

Channel 56

I caught a bit on the nurse-out on Channel 56's News at Ten. It was on six minutes into the boradcast, which is good, but the coerage was really odd. They called it a "feed in" and said moms got together to protest the earlier incident and raise awareness. And that was pretty much it. It seemed like they sent a cameraman to get footage and relied on him/her to get the details. Since that newsbroadcast is actually an earlier version of Channel 7's, it was disappointing and didn't seem to bode well for the later broadcast.

[purplepaisleymama]

I posted this on the Fox blog comments about the Iparty nurse out, by the way there seems to be some confusion about the picture that is with the blurb about the nurse out, some people's blogs seem to be referring to the child in the picture as bleonging to the woman who was told not to breastfeed in the Iparty. This is inncorrect as Dr. Melissa Tracy is in the picture but her son is not, the woman and child in the picture are Juli(who organized the nurse out and her son) who is according to a blog posteron the Fox site, too old to be nursing. I wish that the person who was put off by a toddler nursing could have seen my almost four year old daughter when she was nursing!!!!!!!!
I am wondering what makes so many people sensitive about the subject of breastfeeding, it is simply a part of mothering a child. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that babies should be exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of life: "Exclusive breastfeeding is ideal nutrition and sufficient to support optimal growth and development for approximately the first 6 months after birth. . It is recommended that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mutually desired." This is a direct quote from the AAP. To build a good foundation for a breastfeeding relationship a mother needs to feed her child at the breast, not with a bottle and the child needs to be fed quite frequently. The baby of mother who was told to stop breastfeeding her baby in the IPARTY store was seven weeks old.
In 47 of the states in our country there are laws protecting a woman's RIGHT to breastfeed her child ANYWHERE. Very soon legislation will be introduced in Massachusetts to extend that protection for mothers throughout the state. This will be a step in the right direction for a state that seems to be populated with many individuals who are uninformed about the benefits of breastfeeding .
I want to applaud the owners and the employees of the IPARTY store in South Weymouth for immediately recognizing the situation as purely that of a mother trying to take care of her child. The woman was not letting her child scream, disturbing the other patrons of the store. She was taking care of his biological need, the need for food, the most natural way possible. The IPARTY nurse out was a very pleasant event during which the families present were made to feel welcome by the owners and employees. It certainly was a very positive outcome to what was clearly the knee jerk reaction of a misinformed store employee.
This situation is a matter of rights, the RIGHT of a child to be fed. In a manner established by the American Association of Pediatrics to be the most beneficial and nutritious possible, at a BREAST.
I have breastfed five children and have never covered myself or my child with a blanket and I have never had anyone comment about indecency. Perhaps if more people were informed about the benefits of breastmilk sotries like these would not be necessary.

I am not expecting very many good comments from the previous posters on the site but perhaps someone will see the AAP info and get interested.
laura

[jessjgh1]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

I brought my prego friend with me, and on the way home we stopped by babies r us to register her. She got a free gift for setting up a registry - guess what it was????

A pacifier and bottle <sigh>

So i said to the woman "wow, way to support breastfeeding"

and she snapped back "Not all babies latch on!"

wow I just noticed this. : Was there any b-fing info provided to at least balence it out a little?
Argh.

Jessica

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

A pacifier and bottle <sigh>

So i said to the woman "wow, way to support breastfeeding"

and she snapped back "Not all babies latch on!"

Well, yeah, but when the don't it's usually because they were given a bottle or pacifier before they had time to learn. Sounds like she might be very bitter about the lies she was told in the hospital, but that's no excuse for her to propagate them.