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Photos: Moms Breastfeed On Steps Of Brooklyn Borough Hall
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 6, 2016
Modified Aug 6, 2016
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Scott Heins / Gothamist
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Aug 6, 2016
Modified Aug 6, 2016
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It's totally natural for mothers to breastfeed their babies (despite what some potential presidents might think), and in New York, it's legal to breastfeed in public and private places. Today, Brooklyn moms celebrated their right to feed, joining Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams outside Borough Hall for a public latch on.
Adams opened the 10:30 a.m. latch on—part of a larger synchronized Global Latch On—by calling the event "the birth of a new breastfeeding movement" in Brooklyn. "You are sending a clear message that a woman's natural desire to empower their baby with the nutrients he or she needs to live a productive life should not be taboo," he told the two dozen or so women in attendance. "We have to move away from this male-dominated thinking that a woman's body is something we should be ashamed of and should not appreciate."
Adams also touched on the Borough Hall lactation lounges that were installed last year, and Intro 1063a, a bill introduced in the City Council earlier this year that would require certain buildings to introduce their own lactation rooms.
Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo, who was also in attendance, noted that lactation stations "are wonderful places," though she pointed out it was still important that elected officials "demystify breastfeeding in our communities."
Crown Heights resident Rachel Rodgers-Ebert, who was at the event with her six-month old son Ellis, told us this was her first breastfeeding rally, and that she's been breastfeeding in public since he was born. "I live in Brooklyn, and I've breastfed on Eastern Parkway. As he's gotten older he pulls the cover off, but I've haven't had one bad experience breastfeeding here," she said. "But I read and see on the news that a lot of women don't share my experience,"—indeed, just a few months ago, a video of a man screaming at a breastfeeding woman in a Connecticut Target went viral, and other mothers have reported being shamed for breastfeeding in public places.
Kiki Valentine, who was at the event with her son Hart, added, "It is up to us to spread the word. If you see a woman being harassed for breastfeeding in public step up and say something!"
Additional reporting by Scott Heins.
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