The reason why is still unclear, but when it comes to breastfeeding mothers, a lot of people believe they have a right to dictate how they feed their children. Especially in public.
As the age of debate goes, despite breastfeeding being completely natural, when it comes to breastfeeding in public, several people believe the baby’s head needs to be covered at all times.
While many breastfeeding moms are discrete, the weather is just one of several factors that dictates how much a baby can be covered. Just take Melanie Gibson Dudley for example.
While vacationing in Cabo San Lucas with her family, which included her infant child, Dudley had a run-in with one of those people we just talked about. In fact, the person was a member of her own group!
Dudley was out to eat with her group when her little one needed to feed. Despite it being 95 degrees and humid outside, the Texas native began breastfeeding like she usually does, with her baby under a blanket.
“It was 95 degrees, humid and my back was toward the restaurant,” Dudley explained to Good Morning America. “I was feeding my baby — covered — and it was extremely hot and sticky.”
“I said to myself, ‘forget this, I’m taking this thing off.’ A man within our party said I needed to cover up because they did not want to see my exposed breast. I was speechless and told my husband to hand me my cover and I put it over my head as a sarcastic gesture.”
A friend of Dudley’s mother-in-law thought it was hilarious after seeing the photo of the mom being funny. She posted the photo on Facebook and it QUICKLY went viral with thousands of mothers praising her!
RELATED: Waitress Shows Her Appreciation for Breastfeeding Mother, Surprises Her With Free Pizza
“A friend’s daughter-in-law was told to ‘cover up’ while feeding her baby, so she did! I’ve never met her, but I think she’s AWESOME!!! (Please share! With permission, I’ve made this post public — I’m SO over people shaming women for nursing!!! [PS: To reduce speculation: it was a man who asked her to cover up, it was 90 degrees and extremely humid, and, no, she wasn’t in a Muslim country disrespecting traditions.”
The post has over 223,000 shares!
Dudley went on to tell GMA that she thinks the post garnered so much attention because “it’s a topic that resonates with a lot of women, and they’re just tired of [breastfeeding in public] being up for discussion.”
She went on to encourage moms to “keep doing what you believe is best for you and your baby. I believe the larger message is to support nursing mothers, whether they choose to cover or not.”
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.