Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport has introduced nursing rooms, which is great news for the many families who are well-acquainted with the experience of getting trapped there!
Previously, the only areas moms could really breastfeed at Hartsfield were public restrooms, according to WXIA-TV, and we all know those aren’t the cleanest places. Would you want to eat your airport meal near a toilet? Probably not. Eventually the “Table for Two” movement sprang up—a social media campaign aimed at pressuring Hartsfield’s leaders into making the airport more family-friendly. It began a few years ago and used the universal repulsion of eating in the bathroom to the push their point.
“Many women stop breastfeeding before they’re ready” because of the inconvenience of finding a private place to pump or feed their babies, said Monica Ponder, who worked on the Table for Two campaign with Sojourner Grimmett.
Now there are pods in each of the airport’s concourses where moms can nurse or pump their breast milk in private.
“I can come here and put up my feet and feed her,” said Tiffini Gatlin of Atlanta, a mother of four who gave birth to her daughter Zoë a few weeks ago. “It’s relaxing, and definitely comfortable in here.”
Airport officials are considering adding even more pods, which is probably a great idea for a travel hub as busy as Atlanta. No one wants to fight over a breastfeeding chair while your infant screams.
Contact the author at [email protected].
Image via Shutterstock.