A mother wanted to protest American Airlines after they were given a hard time for breastfeeding on a flight. So she gathered 30 women so they could all stage a "Nurse In" and breastfed at the ticket counter at BWI Airport Wednesday morning.
The mother, who did not want to be identified, claims that her baby became cranky and hungry during a July 21 flight from Los Angeles to Dulles. She says that she turned in her window seat and started to breast feed the five-month old as her husband shielded her in the middle seat. However a flight attendant allegedly asked her to cover her child with a blanket so she wouldn't make the other passengers uncomfortable, ABC reports.
The woman's friend and "Nurse-In" organizer, Hannah Butta wanted to help protest against the incident.
"We just had to stand up for it because we knew it was wrong," s Hannah Butta said."When American Airlines asked our friend to cover up while she was breast feeding we knew that legally she was already given that right," explained Butta.
The woman wrote a letter to the airline about the incident, to which they responded, "...because of the offense that may be taken by others we simply ask that breast-feeding be done with certain discretion and a sense of modesty."
The 30 mothers who participated in the "Nurse In" said they were there because they were upset with the way the airline handled the situation.
"I nursed my child all the way up to six months and had we flown during that time I would have definitely done that," Sophia McMaster told ABC. "I think even having a window seat and so forth and turning showed that you were being considerate of the other passengers, so the fact that they made a big deal out of it - I'm kind of disappointed in American."
The anger had gone further than the "Nurse In." The airline has received comments from breastfeeding mothers around the world.
As a response, American Airlines wrote the mother in the incident and offered her a free travel voucher, but she said that all she wanted was to make others aware and an apology.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
