In light of the apology issued and the information that has been released about the philanthropic work and donations made by Iparty the nurse-in has been changed to a nurse-out, SPONSORED BY IPARTY!!!! After receiving a return call from the Co-founder and President/CEO I have been informed that their company will be providing our mothers with chairs, balloons, snacks and toys or games to occupy the kids.

A joint press release is being issed to that effect. We will be using this as an opportunity to shed a positive light on our efforts. I am SO pleased that this can be something that we can all look forward to now. We are going to meet at the store at 35 Pleasant St, South Weymouth, MA 02190 at 10AM on Saturday 4/28. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me for more info. If you could let me know you're coming that would be great so we can have a rough idea of how many moms we're going to have. This is the store's phone number in case you need directions (781) 682-9600.

I hope to hear from a lot of you!!

Julie

I'm Going!!!!

=)

I'll post this as an event with the Middlesex County Mommy Milk Meetup Group so that the mamas north of Boston know it is happening. It's a bit of a haul for some of them but I'm betting we can get a good showing. We usually don't list events outside of Middlesex County but nurse-ins definitely need to be an exception to that rule.

http://mommymilk.meetup.com/318/

I'll post this as an event with the Middlesex County Mommy Milk Meetup Group so that the mamas north of Boston know it is happening. It's a bit of a haul for some of them but I'm betting we can get a good showing. We usually don't list events outside of Middlesex County but nurse-ins definitely need to be an exception to that rule.

http://mommymilk.meetup.com/318/

That's great!! I understand the distance thing...I'll be driving in from Providence. I know the mommies out thhere will see the importance of this event though.

I can't go but I wish I could. I'd bring my giant double nursing pillow and tandem nurse my 6 month old twins!!! It really is a sight to behold. One of them apparently never got the memo on discretion as she strokes and hugs and pinches my breast.

You go mamas. I'd give anything to see that manager's face.

Nancy

I would support the Nurse In if the mother involved is supportive of it.

The company has taken some important steps towards resolving the issue... and of course I think pressure to actually do so is appropriate, but I'm just not sure if I can get behind a Nurse In quite yet.

Not sure if I missed something....

Jessica

I would support the Nurse In if the mother involved is supportive of it.

The company has taken some important steps towards resolving the issue... and of course I think pressure to actually do so is appropriate, but I'm just not sure if I can get behind a Nurse In quite yet.

Not sure if I missed something....


:yeah:

The owners of iParty are horrified by what their manager did, and are working with a friend who is a member of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Committee to right the wrongs done here. They are generous people who are have given money and time to the Boston Medical Center (which is Baby Friendly!) and other incredibly worthy causes. Bottom line, their employee screwed up, and they didn't handle it as well as they could have in the initial response from corporate, but they are actively trying to do better.

IMHO, a nurse-in will burn a bridge that is currently being built. :gloomy:

Ditto the previous two posters since they voiced what I was coming to ask.

Nurse-ins are an amazingly powerful and effective tool, but they ARE that poweful because they are not used every single time someone gets offended or upset. If/when they become the "standard" reaction, they will lose their power.

The news gets bored with things very quickly, as does the general populace. In my mind, that means that nurse-ins should be reserved for the times when we NEED major impact to get a company or business moving.

This company is already moving in a positive direction and is working with the mom and local breastfeeding advocates.

In my mind, having a nurse-in at this point is akin to walking up the to the person that is apologizing to you and asking how they could have better responded and punching them in the face.

We, as lactivists are building up an enormous amount of power and respect. We've come a long way. We've gained a lot of credibility.

The fastest way to lose that ground is to continue to have knee-jerk reactions rather than thought-out, rational, yet passionate responses.

Now if negotiations fall through and the mother is getting no where and she calls for our help, I'll be there to help lead the charge...

...but if this is just a group of outraged moms thinking that things aren't happening fast enough and that iParty needs to be "punished" then I've got to say, I'm a little sad for our cause.

If the mom is leading the charge on this and I simply haven't heard the news yet, then disregard my above comments, but if the situtation is as I suspect, I respectfully ask that you reconsider your stance.

Jennifer

I understand what you're saying, but at this point i think it has affected me so much because i live in Mass. In Massachusetts there are NO laws protecting breastfeeding women, and this is not some mis-educated employee - this is a reflection of 50% of the state. Take a look at the NIP polls on the other thread. The company did what they could to shut her up, but i truly feel that this is a just cause to go at let our presence known, and show that there are MANY mommies that support this women.

If you want to make your voice heard, then please put your energy into constructive actions. Pick up your phone and call your legislators. There is a Breastfeeding Lobby day being held on May 9that really needs your support. Go to it. Visit the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition's advocacy page (http://www.massbfc.org/advocacy/)for information on the five bills currently pending.

http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_325081620.html

An article about the low turn out for the nurse-in at logan a few months ago. Even the breastfeeding mothers in mass arent doing anything. If you dont want to go, fine. I'm going. I dont care if i'm sitting on the sidewalk myself.

I have spoken with Bobbi Philipp, a breastfeeding advocate and a member of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition (http://massbfc.org/). Dr. Philipp is also a pediatrician at the Boston Medical Center (http://bmc.org/)and was the chief architect on making BMC Baby Friendly (http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/).

Bobbi would like you all to know this about the owners of iParty, Dorice Dionne and Sal Parisano:

"If all businesses were as socially responsible as iParty this would be a better world. This reflects one ignorant employee -- not ownership at all. Sal and Dorice bring in money for The Kids Fund charity here at BMC. Breastfeeding wise this charity funds breast pumps, lactation consultants, peer counselors and education for staff here at BMC . ...plus tons of other great things non breastfeeding related for families. Sal and Dorice dont just write a check, they come to meetings, they head boards, they show up for functions...they really really care about kids."

Please reconsider your plans for a nurse-in. The owners of iParty are actively working to bring good out of a bad situation. If you want to make your voice heard - call your legislators, write letters to the editor, attend the Breastfeeding Lobby day on May 9th (http://www.massbfc.org/advocacy/).

I went to that nurse-in, as a matter of fact. I supported that one because the company was not responding appropriately (and continues to try to have the case dismissed from the Vermont Human Rights Commission). There's a time and a place, and this is not it.

BTW, are you going to call your legislators?

I have spoken with Bobbi Philipp, a breastfeeding advocate and a member of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition (http://massbfc.org/). Dr. Philipp is also a pediatrician at the Boston Medical Center (http://bmc.org/)and was the chief architect on making BMC Baby Friendly (http://www.babyfriendlyusa.org/).

Bobbi would like you all to know this about the owners of iParty, Dorice Dionne and Sal Parisano:

"If all businesses were as socially responsible as iParty this would be a better world. This reflects one ignorant employee -- not ownership at all. Sal and Dorice bring in money for The Kids Fund charity here at BMC. Breastfeeding wise this charity funds breast pumps, lactation consultants, peer counselors and education for staff here at BMC . ...plus tons of other great things non breastfeeding related for families. Sal and Dorice dont just write a check, they come to meetings, they head boards, they show up for functions...they really really care about kids."

Please reconsider your plans for a nurse-in. The owners of iParty are actively working to bring good out of a bad situation. If you want to make your voice heard - call your legislators, write letters to the editor, attend the Breastfeeding Lobby day on May 9th (http://www.massbfc.org/advocacy/).


WOW thats great. If they are such strong supporters of breastfeeding i'm sure they will be more than happy to have us at their store! What better way to show everyone that they support NIP at IPARTY then to welcome with open arms breastfeeding mothers. I assure you that as wonderful as this information is - 99.9999% of the Massachusetts population doesnt know this. All they know is that yet again a breastfeeding mother got kicked out of a store.

I'm not attacking iparty - we are simply going to hang out with our breastfeeding babies infrount of the store where another mass resident got kicked out of. If there is an issue AGAIN - then they obviously do not fully support breastfeeding as per your info.

Whats your problem with having a nurse in? I'm not going to be throwing eggs at the store or handing out nasty fliers. We're just going to peacefully nurse our babies in public, which should be no problem at all with such a breastfeeding friendly store.

Whats your problem with having a nurse in? I'm not going to be throwing eggs at the store or handing out nasty fliers. We're just going to peacefully nurse our babies in public, which should be no problem at all with such a breastfeeding friendly store.

I think the problem with having a nurse-in is fairly obvious in this case. A nurse-in is a form of peaceful protest to counteract a company that is otherwise unresponsive. In this case, the company has been extremely responsive. If you wanted to have a "nursing mama day" in conjunction with iParty (and I don't even know what iParty is, so I'm not sure what it would entail) where a bunch of nursing mamas went and utilized their services, that would be great. You would all be supporting one another, and it would be a way to praise the store for making a better decision. But to have a protest outside a store that has already admitted it was in the wrong seems counteractive to me.

Does the mother support this, or is she satisfied with the company's response? Because to use someone else's experience as a platform to get your (general you) own point across does not seem very respectful of this mother's experience.

Janice in Canada, another poster here who is a dedicated and respected Lactivist, has some great info on when a nurse-in is appropriate and when it isn't. I'm trying to dig up some of her posts.

I assure you that as wonderful as this information is - 99.9999% of the Massachusetts population doesnt know this. All they know is that yet again a breastfeeding mother got kicked out of a store.

Also, just thinking about this. So, suppose you have a nurse-in. I'm assuming you would contact the media, if the point is to let the rest of Massachusetts know what's going on. The media shows up and covers the nurse-in. They also interview iParty, who says, "Well, gee, we did A,B,C, and D as soon as this happened. I'm not sure what else they want!" I don't see how this situation would promote lactivism. It seems to me like it would do the opposite--make Lactivists look like unsatisfied overreacting fanatics. If you really want to get the word out, why not, in conjunction with the mama who had this happen to her, contact the media and let them know there was a satisfactory conclusion?

I understand that it's frustrating to see breastfeeding under attack yet again. I just think we need to weigh our reactions carefully so that we don't give anyone any more cause to, justly or unjustly, attack breastfeeding and Lactivism.

Ok, I understand the point that has been made by previous posters. I still feel that some action should be taken but I am going to try to change our tactics. I'm going to try to get in touch with the founder and see if she'll join us on Saturday. We'll make it a "here we are nursing to show support for a company that is truly trying to make amends".

If anyone can offer any constructive ideas on how to turn this into a positive PLEASE tell me.

:yeah:

The owners of iParty are horrified by what their manager did, and are working with a friend who is a member of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Committee to right the wrongs done here. They are generous people who are have given money and time to the Boston Medical Center (which is Baby Friendly!) and other incredibly worthy causes. Bottom line, their employee screwed up, and they didn't handle it as well as they could have in the initial response from corporate, but they are actively trying to do better.

IMHO, a nurse-in will burn a bridge that is currently being built. :gloomy:

I totally agree with the above! When the company is still working with and trying to make it right, bringing negative publicity is counter productive. Now if they were ignoring or being belligerant I would be there in a heartbeat to support a nurse-in.

I can't go this Saturday. :(

I posted this on the MA MDC board. But I will say it again...

Is there anyway to turn the nurse-in into a posative thing for us and Iparty. I was thinking that maybe they would be willing to take the step of putting the beastfeeding symbol in their door/window to show that they are a breastfeeding friendly company. Maybe we could show up to support that decision? We could even hold Iparty balloons.

I was also thinking that maybe we could have post cards made to send the leadership at the state house about the breastfeeding laws coming up. People could sign them and send them in or something. Maybe Iparty would be willing to keep a stack of these on their counter?

Julie PM'd me a few minutes ago and told me that she has been in touch with iparty head quarters. I dont know the extent of the conversation, but basically they are happy to provide chairs and balloons on Saturday. YAY! She'll be on later to give the full update! =)

So who's coming?!

What if the media were contacted for a photo op of a bunch of nursing mamas in front of the store, or if that doesn't work in different places aorund the state. This could be coupled with a story about the legislation pending....
I would think that this would garner support from both those people who support nursing and from the store...
laura
OOPS posted at the same time... wonderful I will try to be there!!!!

EXCELLENT WORK, Julie!!!!!!!!!

Awesome. Now this is something I wish I could attend. :wink

In light of the apology issued and the information that has been released about the philanthropic work and donations made by Iparty the nurse-in has been changed to a nurse-out, SPONSORED BY IPARTY!!!! After receiving a return call from the Co-founder and President/CEO I have been informed that their company will be providing our mothers with chairs, balloons, snacks and toys or games to occupy the kids.

A joint press release is being issed in that effect. We will be using this as an opportunity to shed a positive light on our efforts. I am SO pleased that this can be something that we can all look forward to now. We are going to meet at the store at 35 Pleasant St, South Weymouth, MA 02190 at 10AM on Saturday 4/28. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me for more info. If you could let me know you're coming that would be great so we can have a rough idea of how many moms we're going to have. This is the store's phone number in case you need directions (781) 682-9600.

I hope to hear from a lot of you!!

Julie

Please post the press release ASAP so I can pass it around. :loveeyes:

Wow! Good on them! I think that is one of the best ideas I've seen. Talk about a win-win situation!

I am really, really impressed with how everyone involved turned this around into a positive. This is awesome Lactivism!

Editing since I didn't see the new notice posted here....
I think the change of focus to a Nurse Out is much more appropriate. Yeah!!

http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_325081620.html

An article about the low turn out for the nurse-in at logan a few months ago. Even the breastfeeding mothers in mass arent doing anything. If you dont want to go, fine. I'm going. I dont care if i'm sitting on the sidewalk myself.

FWIW, I think that article was the only negative one with many other more positive reports... and that nurse in was organized very very quickly and scheduled mid-week when many families could not make it. The participation of the 7 (actually I think it was 8, but whatever) mother's in Boston culminated with a National Nurse out that was HUGE.

Also, to think that MA mothers are not doing anything is quite insulting, imo. We held a Nurse Out last weekend in Boston Commons and at Sturbridge Village, and at least two in the Boston area last summer for ProMoM's nurse out, rallied around the mothers in the VS and Delta incidents, came out to Walmart when the formula companies were doing a baby event, and got the NIP laws to be revived from the dead and farther than they had gone in years, last year. I apologize for those activities that I have missed or am unaware of. Also, the MBC was instrumental in getting the BAn the Bag thru, till the governor stepped in- inappropriatly and unethically (again, imo).

MBC is supporting the NIP law this year, 3 others in support of breastfeeding, and against one that deals with formula marketing (opposing a reversal of ban the bag) and off to a good start with both legislative support and media interest for the Lobby Day.

Sure we coudl do more, and more people participating the better- agreed! And I do hope that we can all join and work out a way to work effectively and positively together and make this the year the law (nip) gets passes- along with a few others too!:bfs :bfs :bfs :bfs

Jessica

Please post the press release ASAP so I can pass it around. :loveeyes:


As soon as the Public Relations rep e-mails it to me and we approve the final draft I'll post it here!

I am really, really impressed with how everyone involved turned this around into a positive. This is awesome Lactivism!

:yeah:

:twothumbs :clap :twothumbs :clap

I can't stress enough how totally impressed I am with how this has all turned out. Kudos!

I will do my best to stop by with DD and DH at the very beginning... we have previous plans, so it's going to be a little tight, but I want to be sure to come by and show my support for this. :)

This has made my day!! We don't have any iparty's here, but my support goes to them and you guys!! Now I'm off to see if I can buy something from them online...


:bfs :bfs :bfs :bfs

:throb

My Kudos to those involved in the planning that have decided to change tactics.

I think this is a great idea and I'm so appreciative of the fact that you guys thought things through and were willing to go in another direction. I'm with the others, I think this is a very positive step for Lactivism and I'm quite relieved to see the direction that the post has taken.

I do want to say that I think it would be WONDERFUL if the stores would agree to display the logo. I think that would give you a great angle on getting some news coverage. I also think that each mom should make an attempt to buy at least one item while there to show businesses that nursing moms WILL support the businesses that support nursing moms.

It would also be a fantastic way to get some press coverage for the new international breastfeeding symbol and would hopefully cause other companies to follow suit and to display it in their stores as well.

Please let me know what I can do to help and please send me a copy of the press release. I'd be happy to publicize it on The Lactivist. :)

:balloons :jumpers: :rocks :grouphug :thumb

I feel like I'm making an acceptance speech.......

This could have turned out very differently if you mommas weren't so kind and diplomatic about your reasoning and changing the nurse-in. Yeah for no snarks!! :lol

I now truly know what lactivism is all about.

I am going to try to get stickers printed with the international breastfeeding symbol to present to the president of the company in an effort to have them displayed on the doors of their iParty stores! :bfs

Erin and I both look forward to seeing those of you who can attend and look forward to updating those of you who can't be there on Saturday.

Julie

P.S We have made attempts to contact the mom who was asked to leave the store to no avail. If she is on this board or if any of you know her please let her know that I'm thinking of her. It really bothers me that I have done all of this without her input and hope that SHE is satisfied with the outcome and supports our efforts, afterall she is the most important person in this situation.

P.S We have made attempts to contact the mom who was asked to leave the store to no avail. If she is on this board or if any of you know her please let her know that I'm thinking of her. It really bothers me that I have done all of this without her input and hope that SHE is satisfied with the outcome and supports our efforts, afterall she is the most important person in this situation.

It looks like Tanya at the Motherwear blog (http://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com/)has been in touch with the mother; perhaps you could ask her if she could pass a message along?

:grouphug

I'll be there!

I'm pregnant and no longer nursing but I'd like to still attending. I'm all for BFing and I think this will be a beautiful thing. I plan on wearing my nursing shirt and going w/my 3 year old. Dumb?

It's been all over the news and wbz radio (1030bz)

I'm pregnant and no longer nursing but I'd like to still attending. I'm all for BFing and I think this will be a beautiful thing. I plan on wearing my nursing shirt and going w/my 3 year old. Dumb?

It's been all over the news and wbz radio (1030bz)

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

I plan on being there with my 3 month old son.

I can feel the happy vibes! I'll be thinking of all of you!

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. :(

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

I'm so wishing I was closer!

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. :bfs

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

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?

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:gloomy: ). 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:duck: .

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. :(

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/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3057016&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1

Here is the link to the blog about it:

http://community.myfoxboston.com/blogs/anqunette_jamison/2007/04/27/Breastfeeding_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/pages/InsideFox/GoodDay?pageId=5.2

Sorry so long!
Elizabeth

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 :lol 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! :blah
Blessings and Peace,
Meghan :lady

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!

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.

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

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. :dizzy: Was there any b-fing info provided to at least balence it out a little?
Argh.

Jessica

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.