When the Florida mother Ashley Kaidel breastfed her son in a restaurant, she was disappointed to see a woman staring at her with ‘disgust and shaking her head with judgement.’
So she stared right back, and shared a photo of the moment on Facebook to encourage other women to never feel ashamed of breastfeeding in public.
She wrote: ‘In the picture, it appears I’m staring off into the distance. In reality, I’m staring into the eyes of a woman staring at me.
‘She is looking at me with disgust and shaking her head with judgement in an attempt to shame me and indirectly tell me without words that I am wrong and need to cover myself.’
Ashley explains that she’s sharing the post to take a stand for all the mothers who have tried breastfeeding uncovered and been shamed, reminding everyone that under US law, mothers are allowed to breastfeed anywhere they like.
She wrote: ‘You should not ever feel shamed, belittled, embarrassed or wrong for feeding your baby the way nature intended.
‘Breasts were made to sustain your baby’s life before they were made to bring pleasure to any other man, woman, partner or spouse. Their sole purpose is to make food and dispense it straight into a baby’s mouth.
‘There is nothing weird about this and there’s no difference in me feeding my baby with my breast than you feeding yourself with a spoon.’
Plus, she points out, it’s incredibly unfair to ask a mother and her child to exclude themselves from a public place simply because someone is uncomfortable with something entirely natural.
‘Is it not certainly easier to avert your eyes from a displeasing sight rather than suggest or demand a mother and child remove themselves from your presence?
‘How pompous and selfish is this? Just look away. It’s simple to do so. No harm done at all.’
Ashley finishes off by noting that she’s not posting the photo for attention, but to give mothers the support they need to feel comfortable feeding their babies whenever they need to.
The post, signed by ‘a badass breastfeeding (uncovered) mama’ has been shared more than 120,000 times.
