People frequently point fingers at one another. Most of us have been judged for what we say and do, as well as how we dress and appear. Furthermore, those judgments are frequently publicly voiced in a cruel manner. People came up with one more judgment to make a few years back. Breastfeeding mothers have been chastised for doing so in public. Nonetheless, this touching 2013 story demonstrates how women can encourage and empower one another.
Jackie Johnson Smith, 33, was celebrating her birthday with her husband and three children at the time. Jackie’s meal was interrupted while the family was eating pizza at Fong’s Restaurant in Des Moines, Iowa. She left the table because her youngest was becoming agitated, and she decided to nurse him to keep him calm. “I tried distracting him with different toys, but he wasn’t relaxing. So I opted to breastfeed him. “I took a cover from my diaper bag, placed it on, and began feeding him,” Smith explained.
She was breastfeeding him at the table at first, but then she made eye contact with the waiter. She began to feel self-conscious after the waitress gave her a judgemental look, so she left the booth to finish breastfeeding. “We were in a corner of the restaurant where no one could see us, but when the waitress came over, she saw me breastfeeding and gave me this look,” Jackie explained. “I immediately started worrying out,” Jackie said, recalling some of her past public breastfeeding experiences. “I’ve gotten dirty looks and stares. “People told me, ‘There are places for that,’” Smith explained. “I felt a lot of pressure and dread with my first child. Whenever I needed to breastfeed, I hid in the car.”
Jackie received a great and uplifting surprise when her husband paid the bill. “My husband had this strange grin on his face and showed me the receipt our waitress had given him. “I purchased one of your pizzas…please congratulate your wife for breastfeeding,” she remarked.
Bodi Kinney, a nice waitress from Des Moines, was also 33 at the time. “I was in amazement as soon as I saw her nursing at the restaurant. ‘Right on!’ I thought immediately. Kinney stated to ABC News. “She definitely made my night. I really wanted to praise her for breastfeeding and tell her I supported her without making a huge deal out of it.”
“That’s when I decided to pay for one of the pizzas she ordered,” Kinney explained. So I paid for the pizza and quickly scribbled a note on their receipt. I urged him to thank his wife for me.” She said that she had been in a similar scenario as well. “I was a nursing mother as well, and we definitely need the help.” That was her reasoning for purchasing the pizza.
Jackie described a moving meeting with a compassionate stranger. “ In disbelief, I kept reading the note over and over again. “I teared up, I was emotional,” she continued. I’ve nursed for five years, on and off, and I’ve never had such wonderful feedback.” “Breastfeeding is neither black and white,” Jackie concluded. I wholeheartedly endorse it. Any mother, however, knows what is best for her family and children, whether she works or stays at home, breastfeeds or uses formula. And every mother should have faith in that.”
