The breast brigade

Awesome or ridiculous. And pretentious. Those were the camps in which women were divided after the performance of Larissa Waters. Did you enjoy this weekend... offline and did you miss it (I really wish you did); this Australian politician also breastfed her daughter during a speech in parliament.

She did this to make breastfeeding in public places a topic of discussion. I must give her credit: breastfeeding while picking up your normal life again is ‘a thing’. I really tried with my first daughter. I even bought a special jug with storage bottles where I could keep my pumped milk. I worked in a company where 1200 women worked, so it should have been fine. Where I expected a pumping paradise with nice lounge cushions and soft music, I had to seek refuge in a first aid room. Right. One room. Without windows, no less. For 1200 women. Okay, okay, not all of them had just given birth, but there were always more than ten and there was always an enormous queue for the room.

Also, my neatly pumped bottles that were in the communal fridge were the target of ridicule and mockery (I didn't need to see a psychologist for it, but it was uncomfortable) and of course, I forgot to take my bottles home on day two. You understand: after a week of working, I stopped. This repeated itself, despite my good intentions with daughter two and three.

Breastfeeding is not generally accepted. Pumping is seen as skipping work, there are far too few good spaces, and apparently, people still find it a bit uncomfortable when you pull down your shirt and your breastfeeding bra is visible.

But. There is a but. And here it comes. Breastfeeding is also intimate. A moment for you and your baby. For you as a nursing mother, your breast has become an instrument that has little to do with intimacy (remember, once, nine months ago when you were just hanging in the curtains and so on), for others, that is not the case. You need to handle that with a bit of respect. Find a quiet, private corner, drape a large scarf around yourself and your baby.

And there is another but as far as I'm concerned. This is about bringing children to the workplace. I don't know if you have children and sometimes take them to work, but you get nothing done. You don't have your full attention on your colleagues and your tasks (and this is an understatement) and for your child, it's also not the place where they should be. Children belong at home, with a nice babysitter or at daycare. Not in parliament. And certainly not dangling from a nipple. What is the next step? That we all start bringing our pets? And during the speech, also switch tampons?

My verdict: absolutely great if you want to advocate for better acceptance of breastfeeding, but do it like Doutzen. With a beautiful photo on Instagram in your own personal environment. Not at work and certainly not in parliament. Provoking once is more than enough for me.

Burp.