“I am glad to hear that you can have your camera and microphone on, but please do not breastfeed your daughter during class time because it is not what you should be doing,” the instructor replied. “Just do that after class.”
A California College student is shamed for breastfeeding her 10-month old daughter during an online class. The professor claims he was unaware of California laws regarding accommodating students for conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, which include lactation. The professor reports unsettling comments being sent from another student in reference to seeing the mother on camera, stating he wanted to “do some inappropriate things during class.” This prompted the professor to address the new mother about breastfeeding her daughter on camera during class. After being confronted by her professor, the student reached out to the Title IX coordinator of Fresno City College and was issued a mere apology email a few days later. This continues to ring true that supposed professionals are unaware of the breastfeeding laws in their state. Luckily, this mother knew her rights, but how many mothers are discouraged and discontinue breastfeeding after an incident such as this? The California breastfeeding laws are detailed below:
Cal. Civil Code § 43.3 (1997) allows a mother to breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another, where the mother and the child are otherwise authorized to be present.
Cal. Education Code § 222 (2015) requires schools operated by a school district or a county office of education, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blink, and charter schools to provide reasonable accommodations to a lactating pupil on a high school campus to express breast milk, breastfeed an infant child, or address other needs related to breastfeeding.
Information summarized from: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/06/us/college-student-breastfeeding-online-class/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=ebd1c699-161f-4067-9e34-89d382ba88be