Breastfeeding is Beautiful.
It is the ultimate expression of femininity and being a woman. It is a magnificent, selfless act of love that nourishes one’s newborn with perfect physical nourishment and strong emotional bonds that will last a lifetime.
You can imagine my surprise when I learned about a couple of military Moms who caught some serious flack when tasteful, professional photos of themselves breastfeeding in uniform on an Air Force base began circulating online.
Washington Air National Guard spokesman Capt. Keith Kosik said that a formal military response to the photos which have gone viral since being posted at BreastfeedinginCombatBoots.com was necessary as they were a violation of regulations against using the uniform to promote a civilian cause.
I beg your pardon, Captain, but breastfeeding is not a civilian “cause”. It is the simple act of feeding your baby, something that has been performed by Mothers far longer than armies have roamed the earth in fact!
Would pictures of women feeding their babies with bottles while in uniform have gotten a “formal response” from the military if these photos had been posted online?
Ahem. I don’t think so!
What’s really surprising is that some breastfeeding Moms were also critical of the photos with one commentor on BreastfeedinginBoots.com posting the following:
“I would never nurse in uniform. I took my child to the bathroom or a private office when her nanny brought her to me …. Not because I was ashamed of nursing, nor of being a mother. All the guys knew I pumped. The military is not a civilian job. We go to combat and we make life or death decisions, and not just for ourselves but for those we lead. The same reason I would never nurse in uniform is the same reason I do not chew gum, or walk and talk on my cell phone, or even run into the store in my utility uniform. … We are warfighting professionals. Women before us have worked too hard to earn and retain the respect of their male peers. I don’t want my Marines to look at me any other way than as a Marine. When I am asking them to fly into combat with me and do a dangerous mission, I do not want them to have the mental image of a babe at my breast. I want them to only see me as a Marine. Let’s be a realistic folks. We give up many freedoms being in the military…Breastfeeding in front of my fellow Marines was one of them.”
With all due respect, but would you like to eat in the bathroom?
Nursing is not akin to going to the bathroom and therefore should not be relegated to this type of atmosphere where airborne germs and other potential threats to a nursing baby may abound.
We clearly have a long way to go in this country when it comes to understanding the role of Mom as both protector and nurturer.
A Mom nursing in uniform is a proud display of both in action and the military would be well advised to support this activity rather than reprimanding it.
What do you think? Should a Mom be able to breastfeed anywhere at any time even when on duty keeping our country safe?
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Sources: Military Mom Proud of Breastfeeding in Uniform Despite Criticism
Breastfeeding Moms in Uniform Photos Were out of Line: Military
So many mixed emotions here! What’s the real issue. Moms nursing in uniform? I can see why this would be uncalled for according to some but….I’m not sure that’s the matter at hand.
I fully support breastfeeding and in uniform……..I don’t see an issue with this, but I do understand why some officials would. But …..nursing with yourself exposed……well…that’s crossing over into another territory.
Uniform or no uniform, I don’t think exposing oneself is necessary. Isn’t this the real issue and why this went viral?
My husband was in the Army for 5 years and he is super, super pro breastfeeding…I talked with him about this the other night. We both are pro breastfeeding. (In fact, I’m writing this while pumping at work.) He took the side of the military in that it is against the code. Soliders are required to put everything second when in uniform…this includes their families and their families needs. I absolutely think it is amazing these women are able to nurse. I would like to see the military have rooms on their posts, and in different buildings where active duty woman can pump or nurse. I fully realize women should not be required to only nurse in certain designated areas, however, if they’re (the military) going to put up a big stink about it, they should find a solution. Despite what is stereotypical, I haven’t found the military isn’t necessarily a family friendly environment, it’s definitely defense worthy but that’s because that is it’s sole purpose. The dependents bond together (sometimes) but they’re not the soliders and, thus, have different rules and supports.
Successfully tandem nurse multiples and then you have the right to critique her technique. Feeding my babies came first; discreetness for you and your body hangups came a distant forty second.
I do tandem nurse multiples and I critique not breastfeeding or her “technique” but the UCMJ violation.
I don’t care or want to get involved in the military aspect at all. That’s why I’m not commenting on anything military. I just take issue with moms on this board and particularly breastfeeding moms judging this twin mom for feeding her babies and suggesting that she’s exposing herself. And that it’s obscene? Please. I weep for their husbands, truly.
I served in the Air Force as a Capt for many years and separated when I became pregnant with my first child. There was no way I would have been able to be the mom I needed to be (prepare nourishing and traditional foods, nurse at least two years, practice attachment parenting) and serve in Air Force at the same time which included shift work, on call constantly, 12-14 hour work days, the looming threat of deployment and the mission: Service Before Self….
What separates the Military from civilian jobs is that the Military HAS to be your number one priority — that is why we sign the papers. It is also in our motto: “Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All You Do.” Someone who joins the service can not expect to have divided priorities and that includes God and Family. It is just the way it is and has to be given the type of career it is: Training for War. The military services do their best to help service men and women and accommodate their families and religious preferences, but in the end it is always Service First, then family/self/God second.
Conduct while in uniform is very strict and people do get in trouble all the time for conduct unbecoming or acting inappropriately while in uniform: this includes any physical affection such as holding hands, hugging or extreme emotion such as skipping, jumping, being too loud, drunkenness. It also includes eating at certain restaurants (a sit down place) shopping at a civilian store, etc. Service members can also be kicked out of the service for committing adultery. Women are only allowed to where certain kinds of make up and jewelry and hair pieces. Men can only where certain styles of jewelry as well. It make perfect sense conduct unbecoming while in uniform would also include lifting a shirt in public — neither men nor women are allowed to expose themselves while in uniform and this includes taking off the uniform jacket and exposing the uniform undershirt.
Across the board – the solution needs to be to have nursing rooms for women in every bathroom. I nursed my child for two years and always felt uncomfortable nursing openly in public and would seek out a quiet spot for me and my baby – b/c is it very distracting for baby and me to nurse where there is a lot of traffic. I was always so dismayed to never find a nursing chair or room near any bathroom. I think all restaurants, churches, work places, sports arenas, movie theaters, etc, etc need it install nursing rooms for women with babies. I am a huge advocate for breastfeeding well into toddler years for various reasons (security for child, bonding, immune protection, the natural ‘vaccine’), but even I still get uncomfortable when women think it is okay to just whip it out with no sense of modesty.
I do not think women should have to nurse in a dirty cramped bathroom stall (I never wanted to and would rather be outside too), but we do need to demand more appropriate accommodations in the work place and men everywhere need to be more supportive of this.
I would also like to follow up on Sarah via Facebook – it is true: promoting anything other than military duty while in uniform is seen as conduct unbecoming – this means anything political such as protesting or advocating a charity campaign.
Service men and women are not even allowed to do this at all while serving (except for voting) – even when wearing civilian clothes. The places where they can volunteer are also very limited. And service members can also be kicked out for general conduct unbecoming even when off duty and in civilian clothes which includes: drunkenness, adultery, joining a cult, joining a local country club (that is what the officer’s club is for), attending certain dance clubs or bars, attending any sort of political rally or campaign, etc, etc….
Also — please excuse my misspellings, etc above….. But I wanted to add — I agree 100% with the marine pilot’s comment as quoted in this post. I think unless you have actually served in a military environment, taking issue with women breastfeeding publicly while in uniform would be hard to understand.
Please note too that the military did not reprimand the women for nursing, (even though there are UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) specific guidelines for this too, as with everything) instead they were reprimanded for publicly supporting a non-military organization. This is in extreme violation of the UCMJ while in uniform and even out of uniform. No service member is allowed to show public support for any cause or organization, and those who do get in trouble.
Here’s something new that was brought to my attention. There now was NO reason these ladies had to pose for this photograph in uniform. Go to link:
Scroll to the bottom where there is a gallery of the Mom2Mom campaign photos, and look at #14 & #16. It is the same military mom who was breastfeeding her twins in the controversial photo…ONLY, she’s in civilian clothes in these two. So why were the photos in uniform necessary? It wasn’t a matter of babies having to eat right that second…they had other photos to use. It was just poor decision making on the military mother’s part.
They where reprimanded for using their uniforms to promote something not afiliated with the military it has nothing o do with the breastfrrding if these women had photographs of themselves in uniform meant to promote autisim or or diabeties awareness you bet there would be an issue if they never recived aproval from the military
I find the picture beautiful – especially the twins!! The commitment of these moms is amazing, considering the job they have. Kudos to them for BF!!!
It’s a shame they are getting so much backlash. I appreciate all the comments about uniform protocol (I had no idea!!). I’m sure these moms were not thinking about this when they were taking this picture – they simply wanted to show that BF is possible and it’s beautiful, no matter what type of job the mom has. All the best to them!!
I think the picture is fine, and of course they should be allowed to nurse in uniform where they want to whether that is in the privacy of their office or home or in a public place. When they are in uniform, let’s remember, they are at work. So, though I certainly do not think any woman should ever be sent to the bathroom to nurse, I also understand an employers desire for a woman not to be greeting customers in the waiting room while doing it, whatever that means for any specific job. There are a lot of beautiful things in this world that don’t need to be done with an aire of voyeurism to them! A safe & quiet place is best for the woman, the baby, and then also happens to be preferable to employers.
I have never been, nor never plan to be, in the military. But having had several friends in the military I did get one different perspective that we can moan and groan about all day long, but it is very real. The woman in the military who commented on the photo mentioned it in her response. When they are in combat together, men and women, that is tough in part because men are by nature designed to protect & defend women (I realize there are more and more deviants from that norm, but that isn’t the point). So, men in the unit have to put that aside to fight with the women and not give them special treatment or go to any extra lengths to protect the them than they would do for the other men in the unit. I could guess, for some men, that could be a constant mental battle. But if a soldier protects one member of the unit in a special way, it could cause others to get hurt (same reason a couple who is involved should not be fighting together). So, I am guessing, that having all the men you fight with see you nurse a baby would not make it easy for them to see you as just “one of the guys.” Perhaps the women in the picture don’t work in a capacity where that is important. But let’s not crucify a woman in the military who, on her own accord, feels it necessary to separate her mother role from her soldier role (or in ANY role where she feels she needs to compartmentalize). Our soldiers have enough to worry about without adding guilt from us for making a female soldier feel like she isn’t the right kind of mom! Sometimes I think when we (nursing supporters) stop making as big a deal about nursing, so will the opposition! For one reaction there has to be an equal and opposite reaction. And that goes in both directions. This picture may be beautiful, but I question if a motive behind the picture was simply to incite a reaction. Well, they got it, whether or not it was the one they wanted.
Colleen,
Your explanation of the female Marine Captain’s response is right on the dot. It’s hard to imagine an environment you’ve never been in, but you have done it with such eloquence and insight it’s hard to believe you were never in the military. The two Airmen in the picture are supposedly Xray technicians, and the Marine Captain sounds like a Pilot that has flown in combat. They come from two very different walks of life in the military. An Xray technician in the military is a very similar job to an Xray technician in the civilian world, and it’s very likely that these two Airmen have not seen combat nor led many men. A Pilot in the military is also an Officer, so they fly aircraft into combat but they could also be in command of a large group of other military members. The career field is also very dominated by men, so the female Pilot probably has a good grip on how letting those men see her breastfeed her baby will affect her leadership over them. That leadership dynamic is something that someone who has not walked a day in her boots can’t understand. I know of a female Air Force Pilot who pumped milk during her deployment, even during long combat flights, and sent the milk home to her baby. That is truly amazing to me, and she would go into the bathroom to do it so her male counterparts wouldn’t see for the very same reasons the Marine Pilot stated. That is her choice, for good reasons, and it doesn’t make her less of a mom.
Gorgeous photos. I look forward to the day when photos like these don’t even get us to lift an eye or make a comment. I get there is more to it (the promotion of the cause thing), but from the comments already on this page we have already stooped to the “Why are they showing their breasts?” “You can breastfeed discreetly” rubbish. I’m sure this wouldn’t even make the news if we had some soldiers photographed for a ‘sexy’ calendar or something!
i agree, breastfeeding is a beautiful thing. a pure, life-giving bond between mother and child.