It’s the breastfeeding selfie that has launched a thousand reactions on social media.
In the pic, a young UK mum breastfeeds her six-month-old baby while on a train in London.
It looks innocent enough, right?
But look closely and you’ll see what’s causing the outrage. Behind the nursing mama are dozens are people, who despite seeing her breastfeeding, refused to give her a seat.
Give me a seat, dammit
Kate, from Essex, snapped the selfie and shared her story on Instagram earlier this week, asking a very important question for us all to ponder:
What is this world coming to that a mother has to stand up on a moving train breast feeding a wriggling and writhing 6 month old, 20lb baby?!”
Kate explains the whole story in detail, outlining her disgust that “not one person offered a mother carrying a small child a seat for around half an hour, or 3 stops.”
Of course, many of the commuters were probably too absorbed in their phones to even notice the breastfeeding mum. But clearly some of them saw her. One woman is staring STRAIGHT at her in the photo!
Maybe some people didn’t see. I know for a fact some did; they made eye contact and actually smiled at me. I was thinking stop smiling and offer me your seat please!”
‘I shouldn’t have to ask’
Kate mentions that yes, she could have asked someone for a seat. But, she also points out any decent person would naturally offer.
“I could have asked, but I didn’t. I felt silly. I shouldn’t have to ask.”
Kate continues with her story, outlining the audacity of one woman who blatantly helped herself to a free seat without even regarding Kate or bub.
“I like to think that she needed that seat more than me. Perhaps she was newly pregnant and in that early exhaustion period, perhaps she was knackered after a day at work, perhaps she was ill. Or perhaps she was just a twat. I hope not.”
Let breastfeeding mums sit
Kate’s Insta-rant is a perfect example of how, as a society, we can do better. Sure, standing up to feed a hungry baby isn’t the end of the world. But it’s also not necessary.
Perhaps Kate should have taken a leaf out of this pregnant mama’s book.
Well it finally happened in my 8th month of pregnancy, I just sat on a man’s hand and bag when he wouldn’t move them off the last spare seat on the bus. We’re now sharing a very quiet ride.
— The Sun Is Bad, Actually (@BrydieLK) September 4, 2018
As Kate reminds us all, “Next time you see someone with a child on a train – if you’re able bodied and fit and healthy, please offer your seat to them!”
What else is making headlines this week? Check out this mum’s shock after discovering her newborn’s head was sliced open during a c-section.
