What Happened When a Mom "Had the Gall" to Breastfeed During a Dance Recital

As one anonymous mom was sitting in her car crying as she breastfed her 3-month-old, she decided to snap a picture of the upsetting moment and share it instead of remaining silent. She wants others to know exactly what happened and how it feels to be shamed by fellow moms just for trying to nurture your baby.

"Why am I in my truck instead of in an air conditioned building watching my friends' children dance? It's because I had the gall to feed my baby without a cover," she shared on Breastfeeding Mama Talk's Facebook page.

The mom explained that other mothers complained to the dance studio and that employees then went to her friend, instead of to her. "She had to come tell me that I was no longer welcome in the dance studio unless I covered while feeding because it was inappropriate for the children to see," she said. "It has beat me down because all at once I have been told by an entire company and it's collective customers that I and my sweet baby are not welcome."

This is the first time that this mom has ever had any negative experience for breastfeeding in public, and the fact that this disapproval came from a dance studio — full of little girls — is the most painful part for her. "What kind of example are we setting for the future moms of tomorrow?" she wrote. "I'm just more upset that it's a place that claims to empower young girls when they take the one thing that should empower all women and twist it into something considered shameful enough that it has to be covered."

She plans to return to the dance studio to speak with the owner, this time with the Louisiana State laws in hand, and hopes that people start appreciating breastfeeding moms instead of harassing them. "Moms need to watch for things like this when they are looking for role models for their children," she wrote.