When Jessica Coakley Martinez had her second child, she vowed she would do everything to breastfeed him for as long as she could.
Being a working mom who traveled a lot, Jessica constantly felt guilty, so she pumped her breast milk whenever possible.
“To help ease the personal guilt, I resolved to pump at every possible moment between my meetings, presentations, business lunches and dinners, taxis, flights, and long waits in airports. This meant pumping while sitting on toilets in public restrooms; stuffed in an airplane bathroom; in unsecured conference rooms, showers, and closets because certain office spaces didn’t have a place for a nursing mother – and then dealing with the humiliation when a custodial employee accidentally walked in on me,” Jessica wrote in a Facebook post.
But Jessica encountered some trouble getting the breast milk back to her son. She describes on her Facebook being stopped by security at London’s Heathrow Airport, as she tried to bring the breast milk she pumped during an extended business trip on the plane. Despite the fact that the vast majority of the milk was frozen and did not violate the rules, security made her dump 4 gallons of milk in the garbage.
“You made me dump nearly 500oz of breastmilk in the trash. You made me dump out nearly two weeks worth of food for my son,” the angry mom said.
Jessica was told the frozen breast milk would eventually melt, and this violates policy.
“This wasn’t some rare bottle of wine or luxury perfume I was trying to negotiate as a carry on. This was deeply personal. This was my son’s health and nourishment. This was the money I would now need to spend buying formula that wasn’t necessary. This wasn’t tomorrow’s milk; it was two weeks worth of nutrition for my child,” Jessica said.
Sadly, the loss of that much breast milk means she will need to supplement with formula.
Jessica describes security forcing her to throw away the milk as humiliating and degrading.
“Beyond literally taking food from my child’s mouth, you humiliated me and made me feel completely defeated as a professional and a mother,” she wrote. “I hope the next time you encounter another mom just trying to make it work and looking for a little help along the way, you consult your conscience (as well as a physical science textbook) and reconsider your options,” she wrote.
Many mothers have expressed their support for Jessica online.
What is your stance on this? Do you feel Heathrow airport should have allowed Jessica through?
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[Featured Image Credit: Daily Mail]
Mom Is Furious When Airport Security Refuses To Let Her Through With Frozen Breast Milk is an article from: LifeDaily