Posted on 04/30/2005 5:56:16 AM PDT by tuffydoodle
Nursing mom gets unwelcome reception
FW mall says security firm made a mistake
10:37 PM CDT on Friday, April 29, 2005
By KARIN KELLY / WFAA-TV
For many mothers, breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world.
But it turned into an embarassing situation that angered a North Texas woman this week after she said a mall security guard harassed her.
Adrian Sparks was shopping at Hulen Mall Thursday, and decided to discreetly nurse her eight-month-old baby under a blanket in the food court.
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Karin Kelly reports "The security guard came over and asked me to stop, and either go to the restroom or to leave," Sparks said.
The guard told Sparks a food court customer had complained, even though Sparks was covered with a blanket.
"I told him it was perfectly legal for me to nurse my child," Sparks said. "And that they sell clothes more revealing that what I was doing right here."
Of course, it is legal - but soon another manager approached.
"He said, 'well those rules don't apply because we're a private facility,'" she recalled.
Friends who breastfeed have rushed in for support.
"The human race wouldn't exist without breast milk," said nursing mom Rachel Tarbutton.
Some are members of La Leche League, an organization that supports mother's milk for health and bonding benefits..
"To know that she is getting everything she needs from me, from my body, is (important)," Sparks said.
Mall officials said the incident was not normal procedure, and that t heir new security company made a mistake.
"That is not a Hulen Mall policy," said manager Kevin Davies. " We support what she was doing, we support moms and all of our customers, and feel badly this occurred."
That's not all that reassuring for Sparks, though.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to shop there again, because I was just so upset about it," she said.
I was asked by a manager at a mall eye place to go into the restroom to nurse my baby. The restroom only had a toilet inside. I refused. I wondered if that manager ate her own lunch in that restroom.
Good for you! It's insane to ask a mother to feed her child in a restroom.
I guess I'd better keep my hands out of my pockets from now on when I'm in the mall.
I breastfed 5 kids and was able to do it without people even knowing what I was doing. If that woman had a blanket over her shoulder with the baby underneath, that security guard should have minded his own damn business. I've seen lots of nursing moms in public places and never saw even a sliver of skin. I can't figure out why some people are so offended but it seems to be mostly men complaining. What's up with that?
Paging her lawyer as she spoke....
I doubt the manager had to expose her breast to eat her lunch.
The restrooms are pretty unpleasant in some cases, but I don't care to breastfeed my child in public, either. If I absolutely had to nurse, my best recourse was to go to the nicest (cleanest) department store, grab an article of clothing, and head for a dressing room. Sometimes those are pretty nice, roomy, and depending on the layout, can be very convenient for nursing.
That's ridiculous. I understand that some people may have a hangup about the "let it all hang out" type of nursing, but c'mon, the kid was covered with a blanket. That security guard was a jerk.
BTW, our local mall has a very nice little kiosk that has an area for nursing moms, set up by the hospital.
I just do not want to see this when I am eating. It seems most of those stories take place in a restaurant of fast-food place. This is the same to me, as a guy taking a leak in the middle of a food court.
I've seen lots of nursing moms in public places, too, and saw some skin. Gee, I even saw a nipple once orf twice. Big deal. We have five children, and they were all breast fed. I enjoyed watching a little face nuzzling and suckling. There isn't anything sexual about it... It is the way God meant us to be fed, as babes...
Are you serious? You think nursing a baby is equivalent to a man peeing in the middle of a food court?
Kiddink ofcourse, but it could also be described as the "is the most natural thing in the world".
Strange.
Lord help us all. I can't even think of a snappy comeback.
There are a lot of analogies that might be more useful. Eating is natural and may be done in public, eliminating is ususally considered a private act. Now I really get grossed out by the manners of some pigs in the food court, who eat quite nastily. That's really something for the guards to get onto, don'tcha think. Me, I always went to a nice store grabbed some clothes and went to a dressing room. Quiet, clean and private.
Hmmmm...and all this time I thought it was water, air, and a favorable climate.
Many men think those milk containers belong to them and view same as sex objects only. I've seen instances in my own network of acquaintences where the men refused to allow the women to breast feed the babies and the women were ignorant enough to actually acquiese. Some of the emerging third world (read: backward) cultures shy away from breast feeding because they fear it makes them look..., well third world!. This is true in some parts of the rural US as well, where smoking is analogous to breathing. Make'm sick, use my tax money for WIC so the parents can afford tobacco, and don't breast feed them to ensure that they remain unhealthy to use more of my tax money to try to get them well. Go figure.
When my wife was breastfeeding, when it became necessary to do so in public, I would put my arm around them both and stare down any disaproving looks.
If the scene is so objectionable, then why do some try so hard to see what is going on?
I'm sorry, I don't get the point of what you posted.
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