Hello! I have a question I was hoping some could help me with. Does anyone know, in general, what is the Czech attitude towards a mother breast feeding her baby in public? I know that in some countries (Scandinavian, for example) one sees it everywere- on buses, in shops, in parks- while in others it is considered taboo. I'm not talking about a woman who practically removes her entire shirt in public, but simply lifts it up a bit so that the baby can access the breast. If a woman did this, say, on the Metro in Prague, what would be the general reaction? How about in a smaller town, say Ceske Budejovice for example? Thanks for the help!
This post caught my attention when I was browsing by and I can't help myself but comment. I have never been to CR and probably never will go there so I have no idea on how anyone would react. What I do want to do is give you support. I am a breastfeeding mother and currently work as a breastfeeding counselor. I am also very active in La Leche League and plan to train for leadership. I am a very big breastfeeding activist, we like to use the term Lactivist Anyway, I just want to tell you that if it was me, I wouldn't care what anyone thought in any country. It is your right to feed your baby when and wherever he or she is hungry. It is not indecent or sexual in the slightest bit. However, I know here in the US, not all states have laws protecting breastfeeding mothers for breastfeeding in public. It might be a good idea to find out the laws there so that you don't get into any legal trouble. You should know your rights before you go anywhere. But other than that, when your baby is hungry, feed your baby. Any time, anywhere. Personal opinion should never stop you from giving your baby the best nutrition possible After all, it's all about the baby getting a good start in life, not about making other people comfortable. Good luck and I hope you enjoy your trip Feel free to pm me if you have any kind of breastfeeding questions, I love helping other breastfeeding mothers.
I don't think I've ever in my life seen a woman breastfeeding her baby in public in the Czech republic. :?
I have, at least I think so. However, I think here it is something between "everywhere" and "taboo". You certainly do not see it on buses or in shops, but I think that if you sit to a bench on a square, or in a park, or just any non busy place, I would not expect any problems. The Czechs generally have the "live and ignore" attitude towards many things I also add some words of support - I think that breastfeeding is natural thing, and some of the nicest moments you can experience with your child, so don let anything corrupt it As for the laws - I know of no laws concerning this, neither supporting or prohibiting. There is of course the "public offence" thing, when you go naked on a street , but this certainly is not that case.
Besides the wonderfull reason: Whiles between child and his/her mom, there is most important reason, and it is NUTRITION. In Argentina is a strong and huge campaign about BREAST FEEDING. In most of countries, not all, of course, moms are... shy :?: to breast feed her babies in public, and instead of this they giving artificial milk (I mean... cow milk, goat milk), and it is OF COURSE not as healthy as mom's milk. So... in Argentina it happened, and... after years and years of this style (feeding with animal milk and other "baby meals") we suffer now the consecuences... High child mortality. Now is so hard to change this side of our culture... but everywhere you can see signs and in all radios and in all Tv programs are publicities about "BREAST FEED FOR BABIES" :wink: ... Babies doesn't need anything else during first time of life. I hope that only "different culture" reason won't be a reason to don't feed your baby with the best and only meal able to nourish (is it right word?) 100% your baby. Your baby will be healthy only with your own milk. A big hug, and wish you great times. Daniela
I am a mom of two - both of my children were born in Prague, and both were breastfed for nearly 18 months (each!) Breastfeeding is still not commonly "done" in public here, but I have seen moms doing it all over town, primarily in parks and shopping malls. I would probably not do it on the metro - just because of the close proximity to others and I'm the kind of person who doesn't really like making others uncomfortable unnecessarily - the baby can wait two minutes til you get to the next stop. It's definitely becoming more accepted as the younger generation starts to have kids...I had to deal with my Czech mother in law telling me that "only gypsies do that"...and she's not generally a conservative person! I think as long as, as you say, you're not blatant about it, then you'll be fine. Anything's better than a screaming baby, eh? Good luck!
It makes me happy to see all the pro breastfeeding opinions here I work long and hard to educate people so they have views like yours. So to see people already feel this way really makes it all worth while.
