Beany
17-11-2007, 23:58
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/276871
Dozens expected at Scarborough YMCA, as well as groups in Kingston, Winnipeg, to raise awareness
Breastfeeding mothers are going public tomorrow.
In an unusual show of solidarity, they plan to gather at the Scarborough YMCA at noon for a "nurse-in" to promote a mother's right to publicly breastfeed anywhere, anytime.
"Our intention is to have a peaceful demonstration of positive support for breastfeeding," Carolynn Prior, one of the organizers, said yesterday. She says dozens are expected to turn out to breastfeed as a group and similar events are planned at other YMCA locations, including Kingston and Winnipeg.
This fall the Pickering mother of three filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, saying her rights had been violated when a lifeguard at the Scarborough YMCA asked her to move from the pool deck, where she was nursing her 5-month-old son while watching her older children's swimming lesson.
She says since then other mothers have been suggesting a nurse-in to educate the public about mothers' right to breastfeed and to urge the YMCA to come out with a policy on breastfeeding. "I don't see it as being against the Y; I think is really is an awareness-raising issue."
"Nurse-ins" have taken place in the U.S. to protest such companies as Applebee's restaurants and Delta Air Lines restrictive policies.
Shortly after Prior filed her complaint, Steven Heipel, vice-president of communications for the YMCA of Greater Toronto, told the Star the organization is breastfeeding-friendly and that the incident was an "error in judgment." He said an email had gone out to all staff reminding them not to interfere with a nursing mother.
In an interview yesterday, Heipel reiterated that message.
"Any member is welcome to breastfeed in any facility, whether it is one of our gyms, whether it's one of our employment centres, or whether it's one of our childcare centres," he said.
Heipel added he hopes tomorrow's nurse-in will be an educational event. "If this particular group of members and their friends hope to use the YMCA facilities to promote breastfeeding as an issue and the rights of nursing mothers, we welcome that."
Prior and representatives from the YMCA will attend a Dec. 6 mediation meeting scheduled by the human rights commission, which resolves about 65 per cent of its complaints through this initial step in the process, according to a commission spokesperson.
"I do think it's fair to say that when we sit down at the table, I think it's going to become pretty obvious that's there an awful lot of common ground between the two sides on the subject of the rights of nursing mothers," Heipel said. "We're a friend in this issue."
The commission addresses the issue of breastfeeding on its website.
"You have rights as a nursing mother. For example, you have the right to breastfeed a child in a public area," it says. "No one should prevent you from nursing your child simply because you are in a public area. They should not ask you to `cover up,' disturb you, or ask you to move to another area that is more `discreet.'"
In a separate policy statement on breastfeeding and discrimination, the human rights body says breastfeeding "is really a health issue, and not one of public decency ... "
Not all nursing mothers agree with Prior's approach. On her blog, one commenter who identified herself as "Nursing Mother" criticized Prior for going "guns a-blazing" to the rights commission and the media rather than trying to work things out with the YMCA first.
"The nurse-in is totally unwarranted and you're doing a disservice to all the other nursing moms out there by painting us as breastfeeding Nazis who do not seek to `co-operatively' come to a solution first but instead take quite a confrontational approach," she wrote.
Danielle Arnold, a member of the administrative team for the online network mom2momtoronto.ca and a mother of four, said she thinks a nurse-in is an important way to get the word out about the rights of nursing mothers. Arnold, who helped organize the event, says despite City of Toronto bylaws and "anywhere, anytime" campaigns by Health Canada and the rights commission, there are still too many stories of mothers being told to cover up in public.
"The only way you can educate people sometimes is to make it a newsworthy event."
Dozens expected at Scarborough YMCA, as well as groups in Kingston, Winnipeg, to raise awareness
Breastfeeding mothers are going public tomorrow.
In an unusual show of solidarity, they plan to gather at the Scarborough YMCA at noon for a "nurse-in" to promote a mother's right to publicly breastfeed anywhere, anytime.
"Our intention is to have a peaceful demonstration of positive support for breastfeeding," Carolynn Prior, one of the organizers, said yesterday. She says dozens are expected to turn out to breastfeed as a group and similar events are planned at other YMCA locations, including Kingston and Winnipeg.
This fall the Pickering mother of three filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, saying her rights had been violated when a lifeguard at the Scarborough YMCA asked her to move from the pool deck, where she was nursing her 5-month-old son while watching her older children's swimming lesson.
She says since then other mothers have been suggesting a nurse-in to educate the public about mothers' right to breastfeed and to urge the YMCA to come out with a policy on breastfeeding. "I don't see it as being against the Y; I think is really is an awareness-raising issue."
"Nurse-ins" have taken place in the U.S. to protest such companies as Applebee's restaurants and Delta Air Lines restrictive policies.
Shortly after Prior filed her complaint, Steven Heipel, vice-president of communications for the YMCA of Greater Toronto, told the Star the organization is breastfeeding-friendly and that the incident was an "error in judgment." He said an email had gone out to all staff reminding them not to interfere with a nursing mother.
In an interview yesterday, Heipel reiterated that message.
"Any member is welcome to breastfeed in any facility, whether it is one of our gyms, whether it's one of our employment centres, or whether it's one of our childcare centres," he said.
Heipel added he hopes tomorrow's nurse-in will be an educational event. "If this particular group of members and their friends hope to use the YMCA facilities to promote breastfeeding as an issue and the rights of nursing mothers, we welcome that."
Prior and representatives from the YMCA will attend a Dec. 6 mediation meeting scheduled by the human rights commission, which resolves about 65 per cent of its complaints through this initial step in the process, according to a commission spokesperson.
"I do think it's fair to say that when we sit down at the table, I think it's going to become pretty obvious that's there an awful lot of common ground between the two sides on the subject of the rights of nursing mothers," Heipel said. "We're a friend in this issue."
The commission addresses the issue of breastfeeding on its website.
"You have rights as a nursing mother. For example, you have the right to breastfeed a child in a public area," it says. "No one should prevent you from nursing your child simply because you are in a public area. They should not ask you to `cover up,' disturb you, or ask you to move to another area that is more `discreet.'"
In a separate policy statement on breastfeeding and discrimination, the human rights body says breastfeeding "is really a health issue, and not one of public decency ... "
Not all nursing mothers agree with Prior's approach. On her blog, one commenter who identified herself as "Nursing Mother" criticized Prior for going "guns a-blazing" to the rights commission and the media rather than trying to work things out with the YMCA first.
"The nurse-in is totally unwarranted and you're doing a disservice to all the other nursing moms out there by painting us as breastfeeding Nazis who do not seek to `co-operatively' come to a solution first but instead take quite a confrontational approach," she wrote.
Danielle Arnold, a member of the administrative team for the online network mom2momtoronto.ca and a mother of four, said she thinks a nurse-in is an important way to get the word out about the rights of nursing mothers. Arnold, who helped organize the event, says despite City of Toronto bylaws and "anywhere, anytime" campaigns by Health Canada and the rights commission, there are still too many stories of mothers being told to cover up in public.
"The only way you can educate people sometimes is to make it a newsworthy event."