What parts of the country.....

[babylove2007]

This will likely involve some regional stereotyping, but I'm trying to get an idea.

Which regions are more breastfeeding-friendly (or NIP-friendly), and which are less? In all I've heard that the Northeastern/MidAtlantic states (maine down to DC or so) are very supportive and progressive, including in hospitals. I'm in NJ and my hospital is very pro-BF. They even give you a pamphlet when you register that lists all the good reasons to bf, and contradicts many of the myths people believe about formula. My sister gave birth in DC--similar situation, plus she pumped at work for a year.

I keep hearing horror stories from the midwest and south--women should cover up, it's indecent, etc. But that might be grossly stereotyped. I also hear mixed reviews about California and Pennsylvania (which I thought was progressive, then I read the threads about the NIP law dilemma).

So is there a regional pattern here, or is it more your individual town or neighborhood?

[angelachristine]

I'm in Wisconsin, and my hospital was very supportive of breastfeeding but did not push it. Once I said that I was breastfeeding, not one nurse asked to give my baby formula in the hospital. I had a LC come in once or twice a day to see how we were doing and to make sure DD's latch was good. She also helped me buy a nursing bra and showed me how to use the pump I brought in. DH and I took a breastfeeding class at the hospital before DD was born, and it was so positive and uplifting. It made me feel like I would be able to breastfeed with no problems.

As for NIP, I do it all the time and have never heard a negative comment. I do not use a blanket or any other cover but prefer to be discreet when I NIP. I've heard neutral comments, like a child comment to her mother that "the baby was nursing" to which the mother agreed. I've never had anyone come up to me with a positive comment, and yet I've never heard a negative comment.

[stockingup99]

Michigan is downright Hostile.

From just my experiences, Michigan is hostile. The mainstream mommy groups jump down my throat whenever I mention nursing. The daycares don't like breastmilk, or (gasp) nursing in front of children.

I've left two churches over nursing. One, the priest laughed and said not to even feed my baby in the parking lot, in my car, because the women would be mean to me. Another was offering free 'safer' formula to totally breastfed infants to protect the workers from the hazardous bodily fluids.

The hospitals and pediatricians think formula is the cure to any problems. I was only allowed 30 seconds to try to breastfeed with no support, before they anounced, low blood sugar and talked the now ex into dumping 2.5 ounces of formula into my first, while I was being stitched. The formula fed baby weight charts are the only thing the peds use. I brought in the breastfed baby one from the CDC, and the doctor didn't believe it, and went to look it up himself before lecturing me about one year olds needing more calcium than I could provide.

:

Okay, deep breath. I've come a long way. Now I out of hosptial birth with a lay midwife, and defend against bad medicine.

I Nurse in Public, with my 2.5 YEAR old son. I run a NurseOutMichigan yahoo group. I own all the Hathor the Cow Goddess books. I go to ever Nurse in I can manage. Walmart, Victoria's Secret, the Ann Arbor YMCA.

[babylove2007]

Originally Posted by angelachristine

I'm in Wisconsin, and my hospital was very supportive of breastfeeding but did not push it. Once I said that I was breastfeeding, not one nurse asked to give my baby formula in the hospital. I had a LC come in once or twice a day to see how we were doing and to make sure DD's latch was good. She also helped me buy a nursing bra and showed me how to use the pump I brought in. DH and I took a breastfeeding class at the hospital before DD was born, and it was so positive and uplifting. It made me feel like I would be able to breastfeed with no problems.

As for NIP, I do it all the time and have never heard a negative comment. I do not use a blanket or any other cover but prefer to be discreet when I NIP. I've heard neutral comments, like a child comment to her mother that "the baby was nursing" to which the mother agreed. I've never had anyone come up to me with a positive comment, and yet I've never heard a negative comment.

That's awesome!! Do you mind saying where in WI you're from? i was born in Madison, so I haven't always been an East Coaster.

[angelachristine]

Originally Posted by babylove2007

That's awesome!! Do you mind saying where in WI you're from? i was born in Madison, so I haven't always been an East Coaster.

I live near Waukesha. I was born in Portage, moved to Milwaukee for college, and ended up in the area.

[angelachristine]

Originally Posted by stockingup99

From just my experiences, Michigan is hostile. The mainstream mommy groups jump down my throat whenever I mention nursing. The daycares don't like breastmilk, or (gasp) nursing in front of children.

I've left two churches over nursing. One, the priest laughed and said not to even feed my baby in the parking lot, in my car, because the women would be mean to me. Another was offering free 'safer' formula to totally breastfed infants to protect the workers from the hazardous bodily fluids.

The hospitals and pediatricians think formula is the cure to any problems. I was only allowed 30 seconds to try to breastfeed with no support, before they anounced, low blood sugar and talked the now ex into dumping 2.5 ounces of formula into my first, while I was being stitched. The formula fed baby weight charts are the only thing the peds use. I brought in the breastfed baby one from the CDC, and the doctor didn't believe it, and went to look it up himself before lecturing me about one year olds needing more calcium than I could provide.

Gosh, I go and nurse DD at daycare every day on my lunch hour. I'd say about half the babies in her classroom get breastmilk.

In preparation for DD's baptism, they told us it was perfectly acceptable to nurse in church (in the front row where we were all sitting). They also offered couches in another room if we were uncomfortable with that.

My pedi has been great. She did give me samples of non-dairy and non-soy formula when we found out DD couldn't tolerate the dairy in my milk, but she never once suggested switching. It was for "just in case." I actually still have it sitting unopened in my cupboard.

I'm sorry your experience was so negative!

As an aside, I visited a friend in Detroit last fall and nursed DD (4 months at the time) on a bench at the Detroit zoo. We sat and chatted and watched the zebras as I nursed. I had a ton of people walk past and didn't hear a negative comment, although I wasn't really listening to what anyone said anyway.

[babylove2007]

Originally Posted by stockingup99

From just my experiences, Michigan is hostile. The mainstream mommy groups jump down my throat whenever I mention nursing. The daycares don't like breastmilk, or (gasp) nursing in front of children.

I've left two churches over nursing. One, the priest laughed and said not to even feed my baby in the parking lot, in my car, because the women would be mean to me. Another was offering free 'safer' formula to totally breastfed infants to protect the workers from the hazardous bodily fluids.

The hospitals and pediatricians think formula is the cure to any problems. I was only allowed 30 seconds to try to breastfeed with no support, before they anounced, low blood sugar and talked the now ex into dumping 2.5 ounces of formula into my first, while I was being stitched. The formula fed baby weight charts are the only thing the peds use. I brought in the breastfed baby one from the CDC, and the doctor didn't believe it, and went to look it up himself before lecturing me about one year olds needing more calcium than I could provide.

:

Okay, deep breath. I've come a long way. Now I out of hosptial birth with a lay midwife, and defend against bad medicine.

I Nurse in Public, with my 2.5 YEAR old son. I run a NurseOutMichigan yahoo group. I own all the Hathor the Cow Goddess books. I go to ever Nurse in I can manage. Walmart, Victoria's Secret, the Ann Arbor YMCA.

WOW!!!! : Sounds like a lot of general medical ignorance!!

AngelaChristine--Very cool. I have family there too!

[~Megan~]

I've never had a comment said to me and I live in Oregon.

I can only remember one encounter with nursing when I lived in Missouri. I worked at a restaurant and someone made a nasty comment about a women nursing at her table.
I've not had problems when I visited my family there with my kids though.

[momma2libby]

I live an hour north of Dallas, Texas. I don't know many moms who breastfeed up here. I have never had trouble with nursing in public though.

[sunnymw]

I live in Southwest Georgia. I only know of one other mama around here that bf's and she doesn't do it in public. I do it everywhere, don't cover up, but I am one of those that does it in a way that you just can't even tell.

The hospital was "supportive" but gave DS formula twice, sensitizing him to milk.

[AlexisT]

Originally Posted by babylove2007

I keep hearing horror stories from the midwest and south--women should cover up, it's indecent, etc. But that might be grossly stereotyped. I also hear mixed reviews about California and Pennsylvania (which I thought was progressive, then I read the threads about the NIP law dilemma).

So is there a regional pattern here, or is it more your individual town or neighborhood?

There's different parts to PA. Philly, and to some extent Pittsburgh, are pretty liberal places. But the middle of the state... no way. Very conservative. It's reflected in politics and voting patterns.

For that matter, there's a lot of variation in New York state, although I couldn't say how BF-friendly Long Island is. I don't think people get harrassed. New Yorkers would tell you to MYOFB.

[TypingMarie]

I live in California, just south of San Jose. I've only had one kind of weird comment and it wasn't made directly to me, I just overheard a guy at a restaurant talking about me unfavorably.

It seems that breastfeeding is the norm here at least for the first 6 months. I've met a few people who seem surprised that I'm "still" breastfeeding at 7 months, but they seem simply surprised, not offended or disgusted.

[mom2snugbugs]

I live in Portland, Oregon. We're pretty crunchy over/up here. I have NEVER had a negative comment made to me while BFing/niping- And I do it ALL THE TIME. I do know that many people have had not so great experiences (re: the reluctant lactavist- chris, at a local grocery store up here. BTW- I live about 5 blocks from that store, and I nip every time I go there, just to DARE them to say something. ) I also know we had about 40 or so mamas at the delta nurse in!! Woo Hoo! So I think the Pac nw is pretty bf friendly. But I am just one mama :

[pixiepunk]

i'm in WV - sort of in the eastern panhandle, w/in two hours of DC. though i know very few other moms here in WV that breastfeed (several that tried and failed with no support), and i don't think there's a lot of support from the medical establishment on the issue, i've been overwhelmingly happy with my ability to NIP - including in playgroups where my 21 month old DS is the only child who is breastfed, and there are babies half his age and younger with bottles and everyone is totally cool and accepting about my nursing him whenever. and i'm not a person who covers up. i've also nursed in several restaurants and in the library during story hour, and again, non comments. if anything is said it's been supportive.

but then again, this county is incredibly friendly in general. people are so nice, striking up a conversation with you, we felt totally at home within a couple of weeks of living here. i think there are other areas very nearby that don't have a supportive community in general, and where i think i'd probably catch a lot of crap for NIP as openly as I do.

I have also not had any problems in nearby Winchester, VA - i've nursed everywhere from Target to restaurants and grocery stores and of course kids playgrounds, and have never had a bad encounter. and in fact i'm in an awesome FNL playgroup there with tons of moms who tandem nurse infants and toddlers/pre-schoolers, home-birth, etc.

while we're definitely in the minority around here, people don't seem to mind at all. I think the OP hit the nail on the head - it really depends on the area you live in, vs. the state or region, IMO. and i've heard of people having bad encounters in supposed "friendly" places, and positive ones in supposedly unfriendly places... there are ignorant jerks everywhere, afterall :

[HomeBirthMommy]

I'm in the metro Atlanta area and I think it is fairly bf'ing friendly, although the vast majority is formula by choice. I've never had a comment or look (that I know of) in nearly 8 total years of bf'ing and NIP. We have a pediatrician that is also an IBCLC and is incredibly supportive. Of course there are plenty of doctors that are incredibly ignorant of breastfeeding and infant nurtrition.
Maybe a lot of it depends on the circle in which you socialize.

[Sagesgirl]

Hampton Roads wasn't exactly friendly, but they weren't overly hostile either. Only one person ever said anything to me, but I got to overhear a few nasty comments. Very passive-aggressive stuff, most memorably from a FFing family the next table over at Golden Corral, who made their baby sit and scream for about five minutes before they managed to get some warm water from a waitress to mix a bottle.

Hawaii was nice. I felt very, very confident NIPing in Hawaii, because not only is it legal to NIP there, but it is specifically illegal to tell a mama not to. (I consider their law to be a model for the rest of the country.) The nurses in the hospital I gave birth to Esther in were wonderful, encouraging me to nurse right after I had her, and bringing her to me out of the nursery at a dead run in the middle of the night because she was crying.

Texas is pretty good. No one seems to care. The only comments I've gotten here have been positive ones. Most people don't even notice.

[Zadee]

I'm in Connecticut and I would say it is pretty BF friendly. My neighbor expressed surprise I was "still" BF but she wasn't hostile, just surprised. I NIP everywhere and have never had so much as an untoward look. I nursed in church while chatting to the Deacon and he didn't bat an eye.

The hospital was quasi-supportive. DS dropped more than 10% of his weight and I was pressured into supplementing, but they hooked me up with a SNS.

I don't see a lot of other women NIP though, except at my AP twins group. Someone in the store while we were meeting asked if it was a LLL meeting because there all four of us were, all NIP at the same time.

[Kathi13]

I'm in southcentral Missouri - in a realatively small town. I gave birth in St. Louis though.
The hospitals were very pro-BFing - DD was in the NICU for 11 wks and they were Very supportive. They had a great LC on staff. My IL's ("no body BF when I was raising my kids" and "I was FF and I turned out alright") never made another comment to me about BFing after DD's Drs made an off handed comment about how much better BF preemies seemed to do.

I work for the Federal gov in a very small town - there are 8 women who work here - the 3 I work closest with (including my supervisor) all BF. So I have a very supportive environment for pumping. This is a big contrast from one of the other women who works in a differnet part of the office who wanted to BF and pump but started out with the idea that her Mom couldn't so she probably couldn't and then when her supervisor told her she couldn't adjust her break/lunch to have 3 good pumping times just gave up. (If He had told me this I would have filed a complaint against him!!!!: ).

We have a decent sized LLL group (some are members here ) and I also have a good friend who is not in LLL but is still bFing her almost 3 yr old. Most of the older women in the quilt guild I belong to, have made positive comments when I have to bring one (or both) of the kids to a meeting and end up BFing there.

I'm not saying it is all rosy - but I have mostly encountered postive attitudes. Or I'm just totally oblivious to the negative ones!!! Really possible

[babylove2007]

This is all very interesting--informative posts! So I guess it is as varied as I thought, not so much state by state.

[Gumby]

Phoenix, Arizona

I've only been NIPing for about a week and a half--yay!!--but nothing negative to report here! Dentist office, Wild Oats, restaurants...all fine and dandy

Oh, wait...just remembered, I was in the ER about ten days ago nursing my dd and while being shuffled from one room to another as I was nursing I was told to cover up. Yeah, I covered my baby's body up. Stup!d hospitals...no wonder I'm trying to forget it. I was also told repeatedly to put on the gown. With a nursling, it's not so easy to in and out of it numerous times. So I put that on my legs. I was cold.