Zaba: Don’t hate on woman who breastfeed in public!
Mothers have a right to breastfeed their babies in public, right? Read this story of a woman who was asked to leave a retail store in Cape Town because she was breastfeeding her child in a public place.
It is no secret that I am pro breastfeeding, and as a mother to an 11-month-old girl, I get really annoyed when women are not allowed to breastfeed their babies in public.
Here is the story of Tasneem Botha who was asked to leave Edgars in Cavendish Cape Town, because she wanted to change and breastfeed her 1 month old baby in the store while she was busy with her shopping.
She took to the popular retail chain's Facebook page to complain about the incident.
Edgars has replied and said:
'Hi Helen Fotakis Muller, Ntombizanele Yengwa, Kim Tulip Finlay and Andrea Buis “We have been made aware of the incident that took place at Edgars Cavendish regarding breastfeeding in the store.
We would like to apologise to the customer for the manner in which this was handled. As an organisation, we take this complaint very seriously as we understand and respect the needs of mothers, many of us being mothers ourselves.
We welcome this as an opportunity for us to formalise our policies regarding breastfeeding in stores and to provide further education to our staff. As a family department store, our aim is to ensure all customers have a happy and comfortable shopping experience.”, Alisha Ramasar, Executive Brand & Product Marketing, Edgars.'
I really have a huge problem with people who don’t realise that the main purpose of boobs is to feed.
Our boobs are not made to be plastered up all over your lingerie sections and entice men into buying your products, God made them so we can feed our babies.
All other purposes that you may find for our boobs are secondary.
This Edgars could have offered Tasneem one of their changing rooms (where people go to try on clothes) if they had such a huge problem with her feeding her child in public.
And as for the staff that made fun of her being kicked out of the store, I am almost certain that the majority of that group were females who possibly have children. I’m not sure why, females enjoy seeing other women being slut shamed and humiliated and love to take part in said slut shaming and humiliation.
Tasneem, I am very sorry you had to go through this and I hope that that manager and staff get dealt with.
My daughter, Reign, is almost a year old and I intend on breastfeeding her until she is ready to give up the boob.
Until then, I will breastfeed in public as and when it suits me.
If you are uncomfortable with seeing me feed my child, look the other way, or better yet, mind your own business. I really believe we need to normalise breastfeeding and remove any negative stigmas that people associate with breastfeeding.
As Tasneem said, if adults can eat anywhere, why can’t a baby?
No person has ever asked an adult to go eat in a toilet so why should breastfeeding mom’s always be asked to feed in toilets?
If you are a breastfeeding mom, don’t let anyone make you feel awkward about breastfeeding in public.