Tagged: breastfeeding

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Please, Breastfeed in Sacrament Meeting (or wherever you want)

When the baby was a couple months old I was nursing her in the church mother’s room along with far to many women for the tiny closet of a room to accommodate (women were on the floor). I came home and sent my bishop a super friendly email explaining the situation and asking if there was another room that could be made into the nursing room. He said he’d talk to the stake president and figure it out. The next week I walked in and someone had pushed the 2 rocking chairs against the wall so they couldn’t rock and put out folding chairs lined up right next to each other. The chairs were so close to each other that babies would kick each others heads if anyone tried actually nursing in those chairs. My first thought was, “I was so stupid for thinking that a simple email would solve this problem.” The bishop saw me in the hallway and told me he’d been told it had been taken care of. I explained how awful the solution was. The guy who had put the chairs in walked by feeling proud of himself and saying he’d fixed the problem. I told him the problem wasn’t fixed. He suggested women nurse in the bathroom or their cars. I cried. And I told the bishop, “Kate Kelly was just excommunicated for saying there is inequality in the church. This is that inequality. Women aren’t allowed to make decisions about the building so we’re stuck here.”

6

Guest Post: Spiritual Insights from Breastfeeding

by Kaylee McElroy Our ordinances are full of beautiful birth and breastfeeding imagery. I know that for a variety of historical and cultural reasons there are a number of people who are uncomfortable seeing a...

8

Dear Sister Sassy: Hot Summer Sabbath Edition

Sister Sassy is The Exponent’s resident Agony Aunt.  Heed her advice at your own risk! Dear Sister Sassy, There has been a lot of conflict recently over whether or not women should be allowed...

18

The tale of my saggy middle-aged breasts

The recent blog post about a woman being refused a temple recommend because of her breastfeeding practice really hit a nerve in the Mormon online community. Some people have really pushed back. “Why can’t she leave...