It seems that a routine as natural as breastfeeding in public does not quite catch on in everyone’s mind and that there is still a long way to go. If not, tell Marcella Mares, a university student in California (United States) who suffered the humiliation of a teacher during one of her online classes for breastfeeding her baby.
The young mother decided to report it on her Instagram account and to the coordinator of her studies.
“I felt humiliated”
Marcella, mother of a 10-month-old baby, received an email from one of her teachers at Fresno City College on September 23, requiring students to have their cameras and microphones turned on from then on during online classes.
Marcella responded to the email stating that there was no problem with having her camera and microphone turned on, but that she would turn them off when her daughter had to breastfeed . And he got a response that was not expected at all:
“I’m glad you can have the camera and microphone on, but please don’t breastfeed your daughter during class because that’s not what you should be doing. Just do it after class.”
The student says she was shocked and upset because “I didn’t like her telling me what I can and cannot do with my baby, especially in my own home because education is distance learning.”
But the outrage got worse when the teacher commented to all the students that he had received a “strange” email from a student who wanted to do some “inappropriate” things during class: “he had publicly betrayed me.
Marcella decided to comment on what happened with the course coordinator and, three days later, she received an apology from the teacher by email:
“I am sorry for the inconvenience related to your intention to breastfeed your baby. From now on, you have the right to breastfeed your baby at any time in class, which includes during group work and taking an exam. You can turn off your camera at any time as needed. “
As the college coordinator explains to CNN, the teacher was not aware of California law , which requires that “schools support students during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, which includes missing a class to feed the baby without academic penalty. “
Public denunciation of breastfeeding rights
The young mother was so offended that she decided to make public the bad treatment she received from her teacher on her Instagram account and make him go through the same humiliation that she felt.
Marcella assures that, although she does not usually write long posts, this one is worth it, as well as publishing a private photo that shows that “I can concentrate in class while I breastfeed my son.”
After recounting what happened in class with her teacher, she explains to her followers that when you are a mother “you have to be creative to take care of the baby and, at the same time, keep the class concentrated.”
She adds in her comment that she humiliated not only her but other mothers by saying “put those distractions aside or get creative when your child needs you .” He assures that “we are talking about a child, not about our telephones or televisions.” It ends by saying that:
“I love my baby and would choose his well-being over anyone or anything, any day of the week!”
Fortunately, cases like this are isolated events . On more than one occasion we have spoken of teachers who support young parents to study. Even Marcella assures that she has had no problems with breastfeeding in any of her other classes. The rest of the teachers have supported him.
Hopefully this is the general trend, and that we do not have to continue denouncing situations in which a mother is humiliated for feeding her baby in public.
Photos | iStock
In Babies and More | The beautiful photos of mothers breastfeeding during quarantine to normalize breastfeeding in public, “If you want to breastfeed your baby, pass without asking permission”: a great initiative to support breastfeeding worthy of imitation
