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Ask The Oprah Winfrey Show to not imply that breastfeeding is indecent. On a recent episode a mother was shown on video nursing a baby in the hospital, but the baby’s head and the mother’s breast were blurred out completely.
You can contact The Oprah Winfrey Show by doing the following:
Go to the Oprah.Com webiste
Step 1 - Enter your contact information.
Step 2 - Fill in your contact information, select "show comment", and copy and paste this letter or your own letter into the "your question" field.
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Dear Oprah Winfrey Show,
Recently The Oprah Winfrey Show aired an episode which followed the “mermaid baby” through her surgery and miraculous recovery. During this coverage, the mother was shown on video nursing the baby in the hospital, but the baby’s head and the mother’s breast were blurred out completely. Later in the show, the baby came on stage with her mother and was drinking from a bottle.
This concealment of nursing with video editing implies to the audience that The Oprah Winfrey Show considers nursing to be an indecent act that should not be shown. The message is subtle but clear. I find it incredibly silly to blur out a portion of a video where a mom is nursing. Nursing in public is not illegal in any state, and states which have passed laws protecting nursing in public include in many statutes that it is not indecent. Laws further state that the mother has a right to nurse in public regardless of how much breast, aereola, or nipple is exposed during or incidental to the feeding. (http://www.lalecheleague.org/LawBills.html)
It is important to encourage breastfeeding, nursing in public, and to protect the breastfeeding relationship in whatever way possible. Actions like this one of The Oprah Winfrey Show of attempting to hide nursing or imply that it is improper or indecent can negatively impact all out of fear of embarrassment or even harassment. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that effectively supporting breastfeeding is as important to preventive pediatric health care as car seat use. (http://www.aap.org/advocacy/bf/brhist.htm).
For information on the health benefits of breastfeeding please see:
http://ProMoM.org/101/
and
http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;115/2/496
Please in the future do not imply that nursing is indecent. Please contact me about this issue.
Sincerely,
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