Breastfeeding Booths Installed In New York Airports – But Are They A Good Idea?

For some reason, the breastfeeding in public debate just won’t let up. Women worldwide are still fighting for their right to breastfeed wherever and whenever they want or need – whether it’s on the toilet or at public events – yet in this day and age it shouldn’t be a struggle.

It’s one of the most natural things in the world but people still have a problem with seeing it.

So the news that breastfeeding booths are being opened in New York airports today has left us a little torn.

Naturally, we think it's a brilliant idea that women who aren't comfortable breastfeeding or expressing milk in public have a private place to go that's safe and sanitary. But it also seems to suggest that these booths are the only place mums should breastfeed when in an airport.

Four of the booths, which are the brainchild of breastfeeding promotional company Mamava, open today in New York area airports to coincide with US Mother’s Day.

Each four-foot-by-eight-foot booth has two benches to accommodate a family of four with their luggage, and the doors shut completely.

Currently, one booth can be found in the JetBlue terminal at Kennedy Airport, two at Newark Liberty International Airport and one at La Guardia Airport, but there are plans to expand the initiative. The team has also created an app, the Mamava Lactation Station Locator, to help mums find nearby pods that they can use.

Seventh Generation, the household and baby care company that have sponsored the launch of the booths, say that they wanted to give breastfeeding mums a private space in airports to nurse their children.

“Airports can be stressful environments and are busy, and we want to give mums a clean and comfortable area where they can pump or nurse,” says Ashley Orgain, Seventh Generation’s manager of mission advocacy and outreach.

It’s fair to say that Mamava has high ambitions. The company isn’t just about selling the pods, it hopes to change the way the world views breastfeeding – starting in America.

Janet Stambolian, Mamava’s sales manager, insists that the pods aren’t about “ghettoizing women behind closed doors” but “creating access and options to continue breastfeeding”.

What do you think? Are the breastfeeding booths a good idea? Let us know in the comments.

[Breastfeeding Essentials That Will Make Every Mum’s Life Easier]

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