Nursing Mom Told to Leave Pool

There is talk of a nurse-in, so check back here for more details.


http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/258059




"Born to be breastfed."

"Anytime, anywhere."

"It's your right."

The message from recent public education campaigns is as clear as the cries of a hungry baby. A mother has the right to breastfeed wherever and whenever she chooses.

The Ontario Human Rights Commission said it eight years ago. Health Canada has spread the word for years. And so has the City of Toronto. But somehow, even in major family-oriented community organizations, not everyone hears.

A Pickering mother of three says she filed a complaint with the human rights commission on Monday after a lifeguard at the Scarborough YMCA asked her to move from the pool deck where she was breastfeeding her baby.

Carolynn Prior, a midwife, said the incident occurred on Sept. 1 when she was nursing her 5-month-old son while watching her older children, ages 7 and 9, take swimming lessons. According to Prior, a lifeguard approached her, suggested she would be more comfortable in the childcare facility and said "this is a family place and it might offend someone."

"I was shocked," Prior said. "It felt like a blow. I walked around for the rest of the day in a daze. I felt really singled out and embarrassed."

She refused to leave on the grounds she had a right to breastfeed there but says a prolonged exchange in front of other parents made her feel "that breastfeeding my son was obscene and breastfeeding should only occur away from public areas."

Steven Heipel, vice-president of communications of the YMCA of Greater Toronto, acknowledged yesterday the incident occurred and called it "an error in judgment" by the lifeguard and the supervisor she consulted.

"We are a breastfeeding-friendly and a family-friendly organization. That is not our practice. We are taking this very seriously."

Heipel said an email was sent out to all staff on Monday reminding them that no one should interfere with any woman nursing her child on YMCA premises. He said employees were told that if a member complains about someone breastfeeding, the onus is on staff to address that person's discomfort, and not the nursing mother's actions.

Prior said she wants a public written apology from the YMCA and an assurance that this won't happen to anyone else. She also wants the organization to agree to mandatory education and training for staff so they understand the rights of breastfeeding mothers.

The incident comes eight years after the case of a Newmarket woman, ordered by a restaurant employee to go to the washroom to nurse or leave, went to the human rights commission and won an apology and financial compensation.

As a result of that settlement, the commission launched a public awareness campaign with several other partners, including Toronto Public Health, aimed at stopping discrimination against nursing mothers and babies.

"Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, refusing or denying a service to a pregnant or nursing mother constitutes discrimination because of sex and being in a parent-child relationship," said a news release in 2000. That includes nursing in restaurants, shopping malls and stores, schools, parks and other recreational facilities.

Jeff Poirier, communications manager for the commission, couldn't confirm that Prior's complaint had been filed or comment on the specifics of the case. But he said it's an issue that routinely comes up and the commission's policy is clear.

Another Facebook Update

Facebook is still deleting breastfeeding photographs and deleting accounts, which leads me to believe that they're not even looking at all the reported pictures. Facebook claims that they do not specifically remove all breastfeeding photos, but only ones that violate TOS.

The "Hey, Facebook! Breastfeeding is not obscene!" petition reached 20,000 members today! It is amazing to have so much world wide support! I think the group will continue to grow. There are ideas discussed on the forum boards on how to deal with the photo deletions from facebook. Some want to notify facebook's sponsers and advertisers, others suggest a boycott, or mass flooding of mail.

I am proud to be a part of such a group!

Meanwhile, after a flurry of media activity last week, the attention seems to have waned some. I did 3 radio interviews, a television interview, as well as features in the Edmonton Sun and Calgary Herald. Those stories were picked up by other newspapers as well. I was contacted by a gentleman from the BBC and will be returning his email tomorrow.

If anyone would still like to join the facebook protest group, it is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2517126532 There are now 1000 beautiful breastfeeding photographs posted in the gallery. I browse through the new ones each evening.....there really is a wonderful collection of pictures!

Mommy and Jezek, 20 months, on the front page of the Toronto Star.

The Toronto Star Breastfeeding Article

I seemed to have caused somewhat of an uproar....I received an email from The Toronto Star....they wanted to do a story on the whole facebook fiasco! Then, a photographer came by last night to take some pictures of us at gymnastics class. Here is the link to the story:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/255628

More than 10,000 so-called `lactivists' have signed an online petition protesting the website's policy
Sep 12, 2007 04:30 AM Andrea Gordon Family issues reporter
Facebook is getting an online scolding after the social networking site deleted pictures of nursing babies it considered "obscene content" and closed the account of at least one Canadian mom.
Breastfeeding activists are emailing, posting and instant messaging their outrage. A new Facebook group set up to petition for a change in site policy – called "Hey Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene!" – has swelled from 7,000 members to more than 10,200 in the past few days.
"I was really ticked off," said Karen Speed, 33, an Edmonton mother of three boys, ages 9, 4 and 20 months, after five of her photos were deleted last month and her account shut down.
But she added in a phone interview the reaction from the online community has been gratifying.
"People seem to be coming out of the woodwork in support of this. I had no idea there was so much support for breastfeeding and I'm really encouraged by that."
Earlier this year, MySpace also came under fire for deleting photos of a Tacoma, Wa., woman breastfeeding her baby. But the latest incident on Facebook has sparked a much broader groundswell, from as far away as Australia.
It is being voiced in Toronto by mothers like Sarah Kaplan, owner of the new Evymama breastfeeding and maternity wear shop in the Bloor West neighbourhood. A self-described "lactivist," Kaplan founded her store "to glamorize breastfeeding." She has been spreading the word and encouraging moms in her online mothers' groups to join the chorus of objections.
"The fact is, breastfeeding is supposed to be anywhere, anytime," she said, while nursing her son, 7-month-old Remy, in her shop yesterday. Kaplan says with Canadian physicians and the World Health Organization recommending breastfeeding to 2 years of age, mothers need encouragement, not to be treated as if nursing is offensive.
Speed, who runs breastfeeding support groups for new mothers, decided last April to start an online version on Facebook, inviting women to ask questions, discuss breastfeeding problems and make contact with other moms. Soon afterward, she decided to post photos that had been on the website of her other breastfeeding support group, BLISS. "I always think seeing moms breastfeeding, and especially older kids, is important," she said in a phone interview yesterday. It's not uncommon for new moms to encounter difficulties and give up in frustration without extra support or tips, she said.
This summer, she was one of several mothers who received a standard notice from Facebook that a picture had been deleted because it was considered "obscene." She wasn't told which one, but later realized a photo of her "tandem breastfeeding" her two youngest sons was gone, even though her breasts were not visible.
Within days, she received messages that four more images had been removed.
After responding in an email and asking for clarification of what Facebook considered obscene, Speed says, she could no longer log on to her account.
All discussion threads, details of an upcoming Breastfeeding Challenge event in Edmonton, questions from mothers seeking help and contacts were gone.
"After reviewing your situation, we have determined you violated our Terms of Use," a Facebook customer support representative named Anthony wrote Speed in an email on Aug. 27.
"Please note, nudity, drug use, or other obscene content is not allowed on the website." He informed Speed that "We will not be able to reactivate your account for any reason."
In the meantime, there are still many pictures of breastfeeding mothers throughout Facebook in groups like La Leche League, Canadian Breastfeeding Mommies and particularly the "Hey Facebook" petition site set up since Speed was shut down.
Facebook spokesperson Meredith Chin has reportedly said Facebook did not prevent mothers from uploading photos of themselves breastfeeding their babies, but removed content that was reported as violating Facebook's terms of use.
"Photos containing an exposed breast do violate our terms and are removed," Chin said, according to a recent report in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Kelli Roman, a 22-year-old mother of two from Fallbrook, Calif., started the petition group in the summer after Facebook deleted several of the breastfeeding photos on her personal profile.
"It offended me," she said over the phone from California. "I can't see how anything about breastfeeding could be considered obscene, especially with the other things you see on Facebook ... like scantily clad women and so much sexualized stuff."
In fact, one of the top discussion threads in the "Hey Facebook" group is one that contains links to ``offensive" material on Facebook.
In Toronto, the issue of rights of breastfeeding mothers has had a high profile over the past couple of years, following incidents in which mothers were told to cover up or leave public places while nursing.
In June, the city approved a policy introduced by Toronto Public Health that allows mothers to breastfeed in any public place controlled by the city, including its agencies, boards and commissions.

CTV Interview

I was also interviewed on the CTV 6:00 news tonight, the top story no less!

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Oeyoq7WJ0

Facebook Update

As of now, the "Hey, Facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene" petition group has over 12,000 members. There are almost 700 beautiful breastfeeding pictures posted in the photo gallery, none of them mine. I'm too scared to put them back up, in fear of simply having them deleted again. They are still there, but only in a private photo album that only my friends can view. I'm disappointed about that.

I have not heard from any facebook moderators in regards to this issue, but am curious as to what they think about the whole facebook fiasco.

Here's the link to the facebook group, in case you are not already a member. Please join! :D

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2517126532

Jezek, 16 months