In the news today, I read that the Pope encouraged mothers to breastfeed if they needed to during a baptism. He reportedly said:

“You mothers give your children milk and even now, if they cry because they are hungry, breastfeed them, don’t worry.”

Stands to reason, really.

Mary breastfeeds baby Jesus in the 16th century artwork, “Virgin of the Green Cushion” by Italian artist Andrea Solario.

While I am very happy to hear that the Pope has some sense, I wonder when the day will come that this is no longer news. Presumably, Jesus was breastfed. In fact, most babies were breastfeed in some way, shape or form throughout human history- formula is a relatively new product in the grand scheme of things.

Breastfeeding is the normal way to feed a baby. Formula is normal, too, these days. I’m not going to debate which is better. There are many studies showing the differences, there are exhaustive lists of benefits for both methods of feeding.

It’s one of those things that leaves you with mixed feelings- on one hand, it’s great that such an influential person is outspokenly supportive of breastfeeding. On the other, it makes me sad that breastfeeding mothers need someone to champion their rights to do such a basic thing.

Case in point- a woman was unlawfully kicked out of a casino in America for breastfeeding her child in the lobby, because, you know, security threat.

There are so many stories like this one. I have spoken about this at length. I have had someone question me for openly breastfeeding. 2 years ago I ended up on national tv after Liana Webster was asked to leave a public pool for breastfeeding and Kochie threw in his 2 cents on the matter. I have been to nurse-ins to support other mums in the same boat. I have to ask:

When does it end?