A mother’s right to breast-feed in public is in the national spotlight thanks to a recent news story about a woman being thrown off a flight for breast-feeding her daughter. Nursing mothers around the country are uniting to defend their right to breastfeed in public; we should be passed this by now you would think. How is it that in 2006 women still have to struggle with a society that doesn’t accept a breast-feeding woman.

Last month Emily Gillette of Espanola, NM was kicked off a Delta Airlines flight chartered by Freedom Airlines in Vermont by a flight attendant who was offended by the sight of her breast-feeding her 22 month old daughter on the plane. Ms. Gillette was seated in the back of the aircraft in a window seat with her husband in the seat next to her. She was discreetly breast-feeding her daughter when the flight attendant asked her to cover herself up with a blanket. When Emily Gillette refused she and her husband were forced to leave the plane. All this in a state where a woman’s right to breastfeed in public is protected by law!!

The question remains why mothers have to continue to fight and struggle for the right to perform a very natural (possibly the most natural) function of motherhood. There is some good coming out of this sad event though; the matter is now in he national spotlight. Nursing mothers united yesterday for “nurse-in” protests at airports around the country both to show their support for Emily Gillette and to protest the fact that an airline would allow such a thing to occur. The national media is paying attention, with stories on every major news channel and in newspapers around the country. We can only hope that the attention gained from this event will raise awareness and acceptance for nursing mothers.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast-feeding exclusively until age 6 months, until 1 years in combination with the introduction of solid foods, and then beyond 1 year as long as mutually acceptable by mother and child.

60 % of women breast-feed post partum. 30% are still breast-feeding exclusively at age 6 months, and 5% of mothers continue breast-feeding beyond 1 year. A majority of states, 37, protect a mother’s right to breastfeed in public. Federal law protects a woman’s right to breastfeed in public on all federal property.

For those of you not familiar with this story be sure to read the following news reports.

• Nursing moms rally at airports
• Woman kicked off plane for breast-feeding baby
• Mothers turn out to back breast-feeding