Last week, I picked up some chatter on twitter about a milspouse who had been treated badly at the housing office at Ft. Bragg when she began breast-feeding her baby. The incident sparked outrage across social media channels. Following the links led me to this initial account from the breast-feeding mother:
“While at Bragg Picerne Military Housing today, I was asked to leave the office and feed Zoey in the restroom. But it's all good cause there was a chair in there. Now, I had waited several hours to get all my paperwork. It was pouring rain, I had the little kids with me. We were in a private office at the end of a hall. I had Zoey in a sling, wearing a button down shirt, tank and had the sling end over my shoulder when I was asked to leave. Because they needed to maintain a "business atmosphere". I argued with the woman for a few minutes, but she refused to do my paperwork unless we left or I stopped nursing. I pull Zoey off, take her out of the sling and bounce her until our paperwork is done. Ironic thing was the WIC office was two doors down. So, you can breastfeed there, but not in the housing office.“So happy my husband is fighting for our freedom in Afghansitan, but I can't even breastfeed my child on an Army base.”
Now comes an apology from Picerne Housing.
Picerne Military Housing has issued a public apology to a military spouse who was prohibited from breast-feeding her baby in one of its offices on Fort Bragg.Jess Lanham drove to Fort Bragg with two of her three daughters last week to apply for military housing. Lanham has been living with in-laws in Rocky Mount while her husband serves in Afghanistan. He's scheduled to return next month.
During her meeting with Picerne, the private company that manages living quarters at Fort Bragg, Lanham discreetly began feeding her 8 month-old daughter, Zoey, who was covered in a baby sling.
The woman handling Lanham's housing application told her she could breast-feed in the restroom, she could ask if another office in the building had an appropriate place or she could come back to finish her application another time.
Lanham said when she asked why she couldn't feed Zoey, the woman replied that Picerne had to maintain a "business atmosphere."
The rest of the story can be found here.
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