Nearly Half of Pro-Breastfeeding Women Think Moms Should Cover Up in Public

A new survey has revealed a startling fact: even pro-breastfeeding women think moms should cover up when nursing their baby in public.

Kindara, a fertility awareness app, conducted the survey timed with World Breastfeeding Week, and according to results, an overwhelming majority of women — roughly 95 percent — thought it was perfectly fine to breastfeed in public, but 45 percent believed it was "best for women to use a cover" when doing so. Fifty percent felt a cover was unnecessary and four percent felt public nursing should be avoided if possible.

The survey — taken by mothers, pregnant women, and those trying to conceive — shed an interesting light on the hotly debated issue of public breastfeeding, and although many of the respondents might change their minds once in the situation themselves, it's interesting to see how a stigma still exists even among like-minded women.

Also intriguing is that 30 percent of these women plan to breastfeed or have breastfed for seven to 12 months, and 25 percent plan to do so for even longer — 13 months to two years. Seven percent have intentions of nursing well after that benchmark.

Of the women surveyed, the majority of respondents — 48 percent — listed latching difficulties, along with the emotional impact that tends to go along with it, as their biggest fear about breastfeeding. Insufficient milk flow was the next top concern, followed by pain. And just after fear of pain was the fear of breastfeeding in public, which 23 percent of women cited.

So, what do you think?