A judge banned an Austrialian mother from breastfeeding her child after getting tattooed, Yahoo News reports. The judge said it would put the baby at risk of harm.
The 20-year-old mother, name witheld, is set to lodge an appeal due in the Sydney Family Court on Friday. She is currently involved in a custody dispute with the child's estranged father, who raised concerns in court after the mother was tattooed, according to ABC.
She received two tattoos in May, one on her foot and one on her finger without telling the tattoo artist she was breastfeeding, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Even though she tested negative for HIV and hepatitus, Judge Matthew Myers said she is still in a window-period for contracting blood-borne diseases.
In the ruling, Myers relied on information published by the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA), but the ABA is worried that this ruling will set a dangerous precedent for future cases.
"Tattooing in and of itself, as long as it's done in reputable way and that the infection control procedures are followed, the risk is low and so no, we would absolutely encourage women who have had tattoos to breastfeed their babies for as long as they choose to," ABA chief executive officer Rebecca Naylor said.
Breastfeeding advocate Kareleen Gribble, from the University of Western Sydney, agrees with Naylor.
"I think when it comes to mothers and breastfeeding, we need to consider that mothers are people, they do things," Gribble said. "Sometimes there's a risk associated with what they do, but we generally think that they don't need to protect their children from all risk and it [comes down to] considering, is this a reasonable risk?"
