Since the beginning of human history, moms have spent a good portion of their time breastfeeding their babies.
For a long time, breastfeeding has been looked down upon — there's a stigma surrounding breastfeeding.
Recently, women have started fighting back against this stigma, like these moms who posed for some powerful breastfeeding photos with their babies.
Amanda Zilliken knows just how hard it can be to breastfeed in public. People stare and point and say rude things. She always felt that her church was a safe place for her to feed her daughter.
Amanda had breastfed her baby during sermons plenty of times (to keep her quiet and content), so she was stunned when a church volunteer approached her and asked her to leave the main sanctuary.
After she was kicked out of the sanctuary, Amanda turned to Facebook to explain what happened — and to invite other moms to join her for a "nurse-in" at the church.
[H/T: Huffington Post]
The volunteer shined a flashlight on Amanda and her daughter, then led them to a bathroom and told Amanda she could come back when they were done.
Amanda was so stunned that she turned to Facebook to post a photo of the bathroom she was banished to.
Amanda had nursed her daughter in church before, so she was stunned that this time things were different.
Like always, Amanda had worn a nursing cover and didn't disturb anyone — but for some reason she was kicked out this time.
Amanda's friend, Kelsey Henderson, set up a YouCaring page to help normalize breastfeeding.
Kelsey wrote:
On August 6th, Amanda attended Elevation Church just like she had in the past.
While enjoying the service, her daughter Idamae was happily nursing under a cover, like she had done during service many times before.
Then a volunteer approached Amanda with a flashlight and asked Amanda to get up and follow her to the "mother's area."
This of course drew the attention of some of the congregation.
Amanda did as she was told though, completely out of shame. That's when she was led to the bathroom pictured, and informed her that she could return to service when she was finished.
After Amanda saw the kind of response she was getting on Facebook, she decided to set up a nurse-in to make a statement to the church.
One woman who saw the bathroom photo wrote, "It's your right to breastfeed anywhere you like!"
Another woman wrote, "Unacceptable! I am so sorry this happened to you."
Within just nine days, the post had over 726 reactions and over 1,695 shares.
If you think all mothers have the right to breastfeed wherever they'd like, please SHARE this article with your friends!
