Backing the best start in life
SOME people came out against a breastfeeding promotion exercise when it was launched locally shortly before Christmas – on the grounds that it should never be necessary to welcome mums to breastfeed their babies if they wished to do so.
But as our report of today indicates, while there is also plenty of positivity behind the scheme, there is often an uncertainty among mums about what might be considered to be acceptable or ‘normal’ in public places.
Mums told us it was only reasonable to feel nervous or self-conscious, particularly while ‘still getting the hang of it’, and they saw only positivity in a prominent pink sign indicating that the venue would be supportive to them.
So we can agree that, in an ideal world, such campaigns would not be necessary, but there’s mutual benefit in all round in being supportive.
The alternative, as the impromptu mums protest about a breastfeeding complaint in a local hotel last spring showed, can turn out to be much more embarrassing.
‘The cafe owners who have signed up so far have been really positive, for a few it has been quite cathartic as they remembered the problems they faced breastfeeding,’ organisers have said.
Whether mothers choose to breastfeed or not, who would want to make things more difficult or negative when it comes to giving babies the very best start in life?