Home Pastors Articles for Pastors Breast-Feeding in Church OK by Pope Francis, But Still an Issue

Breast-Feeding in Church OK by Pope Francis, But Still an Issue

In a comment to a journalist last month, Pope Francis encouraged women to breast-feed in sacred places, but the church at large still seems uncomfortable with it. According to USA Today, the Centers for Disease Control say breast-feeding is becoming more popular, and breast-feeding advocates thrilled to the pope’s acceptance of breast-feeding in public. But Christian blogs and online commentators still advise women to retreat to the nursery or find an out-of-the-way place to nurse rather than feed their babies during the service.

For example, Elizabeth Dalman, a new mother who lives near Anaheim, Calif., says the reaction to her breast-feeding in her Baptist church has always been polite, but she can tell at times that fellow congregants feel uncomfortable. After nursing in her church lobby one Sunday, a woman told her that the church provided “cover-ups” for nursing mothers. This, according to the article, is a common experience.

A popular blogger on parenting issues, Mary Fischer, said women should breast-feed “discreetly” in church because “there are certain places where it really does make people uncomfortable.” Fischer received hundreds of comments on the post with some arguing that she shouldn’t be so “freaked out about other women feeding their babies the way nature/God intended.”

“Breasts were made to feed a baby,” said Misti Ryan, a devout Christian lactation consultant in Texas whose business has a cross in its logo.

A mother can breast-feed modestly and should be allowed to nurse in church if she wants to, said Ryan, who has nursed five children in her Baptist congregation. “The church needs to go there.”

How does your church react to mothers nursing their children during the service? In your lobby?