Images c/o Elle Australia
This cover story raises a good topic of conversation and one I've recently been faced with myself! There has always been much controversy over the topic of breastfeeding in public and now as a nursing Mother with a busy schedule; balancing work and social obligations there comes a time when feeding your child while not at home is absolutely necessary. I recently asked a few good friends who've been living in Indiana for over a decade how they feel society reacts to breastfeeding in public... the consensus seems to be that midwestern USA maybe a little more conservative than some other states such as California or Oregon, but if you keep a low profile and don't make a scene (covering up of course) there are places that it should be fine.
During this past month, I was even busier than usual. As you may know, May in Indianapolis means hundreds of thousands of race fans flood in for the Indianapolis 500 race on Memorial Day weekend. Usually with such a full schedule I hit the ground running and let adrenaline and caffiene see me through the month, but this year was different as we had baby Eva Rose in tow.
I quickly learned my lesson that a Starbucks hit for me also means a night of sleeplessness as Eva seems to be overly sensitive to caffeine! (Won't be doing coffee again anytime soon!) But back on the topic of feeding in public... I did't consciously decide to test the theories but my journey began out of necessity, when I wound up waiting at the airport for an hour and I had no other option.
Enter the "parking lot" feed. Running errands all over town I quickly realized that the 2.5 hour window between feeds passes extremely quickly! I ended up 4 for 4, feeding this way 4 times in 4 days which left me feeling like a terrible mother. Looking back now I can laugh about it, knowing that I'm for sure not the only one in this situation... This May I also added a restaurant and a bus to my list of feeding locales and I can say proudly I managed to do it all without indecent exposure!
I do think that society is becoming more liberal on the topic and I love seeing one of my favorite Aussie models, Nicole Trufino aiding the cause on the cover of Elle Australia with her son Zion.