The American Academy of Pediatrics said breast-feeding laws such as the one passed in Pennsylvania will make it easier for mothers to nurse, which is healthier for babies.
In children, breast milk protects against infectious disease, obesity, sudden infant death syndrome, and diabetes, among other illnesses. Breast-feeding mothers recover more quickly from giving birth and have a lower incidence of breast and ovarian cancers. Yet, despite its numerous health benefits, public breast-feeding remains contentious.
"When we were dealing with this in the Senate, the sort of rank-and-file problem is what I call the ick factor," said Jake Marcus, legal director at Birth Without Boundaries, an advocacy group that supports mother's rights.
Pennsylvania is one of the last states to pass a law that protects breast-feeding in public. Philadelphia has had such a law on its books since 1997.
Jewels Cusaac breast-feeds her daughter, 13-month-old Ava. "I think it's ridiculous that it's even an issue," said Cusaac, sitting with her daughter in Rittenhouse Square yesterday afternoon. "Breast-feeding is the most natural thing a person can do. I think it would be pretty bold of someone to come up and say, 'I'd prefer you to not do that here.' "
Ruth Lawrence, a neonatologist who wrote the academy's policy statement supporting breast-feeding, said that without supportive legislation, mothers may wean their children too soon or not nurse at all.
The gold standard for nursing is to breast-feed a child until the age of 6 months, public health experts say.
"In a lot of states, people have used their uncomfortable feelings about public exposure of body parts to see this as a sexual act. But this is a normal, healthy act," said Karla Shepard Rubinger, executive director of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, an academic, peer-reviewed journal.
