After reading this, you may need to be reminded of what decade you live in again. Lindsay Jaynes was all set to embark on a 6-hour plane ride with her 10-week-old baby -- which all moms know is stressful enough. She decided to be super smart and check with Delta Airlines about its breastfeeding policy. So she tweeted the company and made it quite clear in her post that her baby refused to nurse with a cover or feed from a bottle. The airline's response? Breastfeed with a cover or use a bottle.
Delta's exact words were "Unfortunately you are not able to breast feed if you do not have a cover up. I'm sorry."
When she reminded the airline that her baby would have to feed every 2 hours, the message from @DeltaAssist, which is the company's customer service Twitter account, wasn't very helpful: "I would suggest pumping if you can and bringing it on board with you. You are allowed to bring breast milk on board."
Holy cow, what was lost in translation after Lindsay's original tweet about the only way her baby accepted nutrition? Thankfully, Lindsay was not about to back down and give up. Her next tweets drove the point home AND made her the unlikely recipient of tons of Twitter followers:
Either a particularly unsavvy customer service representative replied to Lindsay's tweet, or Delta wisened up and changed its stance after it received a barrage of angry tweets from folks following the breastfeeding saga, because its next message to the mom read:
Delta welcomes breastfeeding mothers and babies on our flights. We apologize for the misinformation earlier.
It's still a little unclear whether this WAS Delta's policy up until now, or if it was actually a case where false information was spread. Either way, Lindsay should consider this a sort-of win for all breastfeeding moms, who should not have to feel the slightest bit ashamed about providing their babies with nourishment anywhere they go.
I say sort-of win because some airlines still have policies about breastfeeding. And even one policy is one too many.
Do you think breastfeeding moms should wear cover ups on airplanes so that other passengers don't feel uncomfortable?
Image via Curi Hyvrard/Corbis