Breastfeeding in Public: Uncomfortable or Normal?

If they fail to breastfeed their babies, some women are told they are bad mothers. If you breastfeed your babies on the bus, park or restaurant, their gaze may look strange. Midwife and certified lactation consultant Simone Lehwald explains in an interview why it is advisable not to interpret every form negatively, why there is a need for greater cohesion among breastfeeding mothers and the extent to which breastfeeding legislation can be helpful.

»Spektrum.de«: 77 percent of women feel uncomfortable breastfeeding their babies in public, This was the result of a survey conducted in 2020 by polling organization YouGov. Why is it like this?

Simone Lehwald: From what I have experienced in the field, the biggest problem is the mind. Time and again, mothers ask themselves whether they even wish to breastfeed their babies in public, which is why they feel uncomfortable and tend to breastfeed in secret and behind closed doors . I suspect it’s a wrong decision, in fact most of the people around him don’t even notice it.

At the same time, women on the Internet regularly report that they are being looked at in a strange way.

Simone Lehwald | Midwives and certified lactation consultants work at the European Institute for Breastfeeding and Lactation.

It’s important to differentiate: is gaze meant to be disrespectful? Or is it just curiosity? And what does the woman do with it? A survey by Germany’s National Breastfeeding Commission More than 1000 people from the year 2017 showed that almost half of the population does not even notice breastfeeding mothers in public. Only six percent of those questioned were actually visually impaired. In my opinion, isolated cases in which mothers have very negative experiences are over-represented in the media. If a breastfeeding mother is kicked out of a cafe every few years, it’s a huge raise and controversially discussed. So if the cafe lady is put aside, she quickly becomes attached to what she sees in the media. It is important that we understand more that breastfeeding is the most normal thing in the world.