Breastfeeding in public

The social attitudes toward and legal status of breastfeeding in public vary widely in cultures around the world. In many countries, both in the Global South and in a number of Western countries, breastfeeding babies in open view of the general public is common and generally not regarded as an issue. In many parts of the world including Australia,^[1] some parts of the United States and Europe, along with some countries in Asia, women have an explicit legal right to nurse in public and in the workplace.

The prevalence of breastfeeding in public in a particular country is primarily due to factors such as legal restrictions, cultural values, age of the baby, social norms, and women's breastfeeding attitudes and knowledge. There is some evidence that mothers who breastfeed in public are more likely to continue breastfeeding for longer than those who do not. Embarrassment resulting from societal disapproval is often cited as a major reason for not breastfeeding in public. This can result in nursing women avoiding spending time in public, carrying expressed breast milk with them, or using infant formula when away from home.^[2]

Even though the practice may be legal or socially accepted, some mothers may nevertheless be reluctant to expose a breast in public to breastfeed^[3][4] due to actual or potential objections by other people, negative comments, or harassment.^[5] It is estimated that around 63% of mothers across the world have publicly breast-fed.^[6] The media have reported a number of incidents in which workers or members of the public have objected to or forbidden women breastfeeding.^[7] Some mothers avoid the negative attention and choose to move to another location. But some mothers have protested their treatment, and have taken legal action or engaged in protests.^[8] Protests have included a public boycott of the offender's business, organizing a "nurse-in" or a breastfeeding flash mob, in which groups of nursing mothers gather at the location where the complaint originated and nursed their babies at the same time. In response, some companies have apologised and agreed to train their employees.^[9]