breastfeeding in public

I recently read about the mother who was asked to cover up while nursing her 22 mo old daughter on a Delta flight and then ejected from the plane when she refused to do so. Now there is a nurse-in going on in many airports to protest the airline's likely illegal act. Breastfeeding in public is legal in all 50 states because of past experiences such as this one. Now, some (including my husband) think that the woman should be completely discreet by covering up with a blanket, going into another room, or not going out while nursing at all. However, I have nursed 5 children, some for over a year, giving me a different perspective on the matter.

We left the States for our Naples, Italy tour when Will was 8 weeks old, and over the course of the next 3 years, made many trans-Atlantic flights with nursing babies. I have nursed in Pompeii, on hydrofoil boats (to Capri, oooh, la la!), in churches and cathedrals, in markets, and on-base. It was amusing how many times I was asked by Italians if I was nursing and how they then smiled and enthusiastically wished their daughter or granddaughter had babies and breastfed them. I think the Italian people love babies more than any other and it makes me sad that the young married couples don't have more, but that is a different issue.

Only one time was I asked to stop nursing and that experience stuck with me and makes my blood start to boil even today. Will was 17 mo old when his little sister was born so the days of nursing any-old place came to an end. It had to be somewhere where I could contain a rambunctious toddler for at least 20 minutes, which was not easy to do in crazy Naples. So, one afternoon, I found myself at the airport base and hurried into the nearly empty library to snag a chair in the back to feed fussy Mary. Imagine my surprise when I was interrupted by a American woman on the staff who announced loudly, "you are not allowed to breastfeed your baby in here, please leave." Apparently, they had closed-circuit cameras at the front desk and were watching me for at least 10 minutes. I was livid, to say the least and stormed over to the CO's office to make a complaint. In the end, the woman was forced to admit that she had no place to ask me to leave, but I rarely went back and certainly never nursed in that library again.

It was offensive to be asked to stop doing something that was good (even the Pope says so) and not bothering another soul and therefore I can relate strongly to this woman on the airplane. In fact, the first article mentions that she was nursing in the back of the plane with the only people able to see being her husband and the flight attendant. I'm not asking that Americans become as enthusiastic about babies and breastfeeding as the average Italian grandmother, just that they extend a little sympathy to nursing mothers who are trying to do the best thing for their babies.