"Excuse me, ma'am. You can't do that here."

Recently, I've come across a very eye-opening campaign that has sparked tons of controversy. The campaign "When Nuture Calls," was created by two graphic arts students from The University of North Texas who read about a mother who was harnessed in a Texas Target for breastfeeding in public. They were shocked by the story and looked into their own states breastfeeding laws. Once they realized Texas has very weak breastfeeding laws they decided to create campaign posters showing the battle of public nursing many mothers have to go through.

"Welcome to the When Nurture Calls campaign. This aims to protect a mother's right to breastfeed her baby in public by striving to pass the bill HB1706, which will protect breastfeeding mothers from harassment and discrimination when they choose to nurture their child in public." Is the first message you see when visiting the When Nuture Calls campaign site. Many people know is that most states have breastfeeding laws in place, what many people don't know is that there is no penalty for breaking these laws in most of the states. So, nursing mothers have no protection by law to feed their children in a public place.

When Nuture Calls posters show mothers nursing their babies in a bathroom stall after being harassed when feeding in public. 

I think these students have done such an amazing job showing how hard it is to be a breastfeeding mother in the US. I know exactly how these mothers in the posters feel.

When Peeka was a month old my mother and I went to Ikea. I was excited because I knew they had a nursing room so I could feed my newborn without a worry. When we first arrived I went up to the 3rd floor and into the nursing room and nursed my little sleepy baby comfortably. I put her in my sling and shopped my heart out for a few hours until my boobs told me Peeka needed to eat. I headed back to the nursing room and it was locked. I waited a bit and tried again. Locked.

Peeka started to cry her heartbreaking newborn cry and my boobs felt like they were going to explode. My horomones were still a mess and I started getting frustrating and a little panicky. I didn't know where I was going to feed my baby. 

My mom went to get her car while Peeka and I waited. After getting Peeka bundled up and in her car seat (Decembers in Chicago aren't very pleasant) I helped my mom load up our goodies. I still needed to feed my crying baby. I finally just went into a "family" bathroom locked the door and sat on the toilet and nursed Peeka. I wanted to cry. It smelled horrible and people kept knocking on the door. I didn't know what else to do. I felt bad for Peeka and I felt bad for myself. 

After that day I went home and researched my butt off on breastfeeding in public. I searched for local and feeders laws and found that my wonderful state of Michigan only states that breastfeeding isn't considered public nudity. That's it. Most other states that do have nursing in public laws don't have any penalties for breaking those laws. I was so shocked.

After about 4 months of breastfeeding did I really say "Screw everyone." and started feeding Peeka in public freely. I don't just whip out my boobs wherever but I do find a quiet place and feed her. She can't focus if there is a lot going on and gives me nip-flash. I think getting more comfortable with feeding and having a baby who was bigger and could almost sit up alone helped me loosen up and nurse in public. My philosophy is "look at your own risk," when it comes to nursing.

I want all mothers to feel comfortable and able to feed their babies/toddlers in public without feeling pressured to go somewhere secluded like a bathroom. Breastfeeding is natural. You aren't doing anything wrong. You are nurturing you child and no one can tell you that is wrong.

Be strong mama's!