Breastfeeding in public is a subject often debated between mothers with hungry babies and the squeamish, but in most cases the law sides with Mom.
Forty-five states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, all allow women to legally breastfeed in public. In 28 of those states mothers are exempt from public indecency laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislature.
Despite these laws women are still sometimes asked to cover up while feeding their babies. In Tennessee (a state that allows breastfeeding anywhere) a nursing mom was confronted at a Chick-Fil-A, WTSP NEWS reported.
Jennifer Day was feeding her baby in the restaurant's play area without a cover, the woman claimed her daughter doesn't like cover-ups and will just rip them off.
"An employee came up to me and told me some of the other parents were afraid of allowing their kids to play in the play area while I was feeding her, especially without any cover," Day told WTSP.
The manager later apologized to Day.
"Any mother is allowed to breastfeed her child if she's in that place otherwise. They were made for a purpose, a God-given ability. It's the best gift you can give to your child," Day said.
Another breastfeeding incident occurred at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Twenty-five nursing mothers and their children are protesting a case where a woman was asked to cover up while nursing her child aboard a flight, CBS News reported.
"She was discreetly nursing her son, and a flight attendant came over and made her feel really shamed, really unwelcome and asked her to cover up," Katy Whipple, the protest organizer, told CBS.
American Airlines issued the woman an apology, but her friends found it unsatisfactory.
The airline later issued a clarification to their first apology.
"We apologize to the breastfeeding mother who was offered a blanket during a recent flight by a well-intentioned flight attendant. The intent was to make everyone on board comfortable," American Airlines said in a statement, CBS reported.
Burlington International Airport in Vermont will be installing special stations meant to aid nursing mothers who use a pump, the New York Times reported.
The Mamava "Lactation Station" will be a "freestanding kiosk with seating, a fold-down table and a power-supply to plug a pump or an entertainment device into - all this with additional space for luggage or a stroller," the New York Times reported.
