So often we hear or read about women who are shamed for breastfeeding or told to “cover up” while feeding their baby in public.
But the reality may not be as bleak as it sounds.
With so many celebrities recently sharing photos breastfeeding online or promoting breastfeeding - such as Pink, Amanda Seyfried and The Walking Dead’s Christian Serratos - we decided to ask HuffPost UK Parents’ followers about their experiences of breastfeeding in public.
The response was overwhelmingly positive.
We can’t help but think these women’s positive words will be comforting for new mums who may feel nervous or embarrassed to feed in public.
So if that is you, let these 10 mums reassure you.
1. Jessica Sutton: “I’ve never had anything negative said to me. I’ve fed on park benches, on a bench in the middle of a city, at adventure parks, all sorts.
I did feel very self-conscious at first but got used to feeding in public very quickly.”
2. Rachel Vohra: “[I’ve had] no negatives experiences either. I’ve fed walking along the street, in cafes, restaurants, shops, cinema, on park benches and basically anywhere where my daughter needed feeding. Nobody batted an eyelid but I did always try to cover my boobs as best as possible.”
3. Andrea Grazia: “I’ve never had any negative experiences. Lots of positive ones like people in cafes offering to bring me water, fellow parents offering to bring me food and people making space for my daughter’s kicking on benches.”
4. Emma Louise Brown: “Never had any negative experience, in fact I think people never even noticed half the time and I never covered up while doing it! I fed wherever my kids needed feeding.”
5. Lesley McLean: “Only had positive experiences - people were generally supportive/helpful or just didn’t notice.”
6. Belinda Humphrey: “I was once breastfeeding while walking around Morrisons doing my food shop and got multiple compliments on feeding in public. I also got loads of help from the staff, other people doing their shopping, and the local teenage football team who were bag packing were more than happy to help.”
7. Megan Richardson: ”Only positive experiences here! I once ordered some lunch at a local cafe and when the waiter noticed I was breastfeeding he cut up my lunch so I could eat with one hand.”
8. Karla James: “Only really had positive experiences here too, and I never covered up or sat in the corner, just did it wherever was needed. Had a lovely older lady tell me it was a beautiful thing to see and made her day as it brought back fond memories of her feeding her babies.”
9. Cara Wild: ”Only positive experiences! Strangers have even come to congratulate me for feeding my daughter or to offer me a glass of water if it’s hot.”
10. Cat Holmes: “I have only ever had positive and supportive comments when breastfeeding out and about, but most people seem to not notice.”
Read all the women’s experiences on our Facebook thread, here.