A new mother has sparked furious debate after revealing she was shamed by her own husband for breastfeeding their son in public.
The unnamed woman, based in the US, took to Reddit to share that she allowed her newborn to cling to her chest during a shopping trip with her husband and mother-in-law.
But she explained that her husband was on her midwife and demanded that she not walk around Walmart with her chest out.’
The mother was so amazed that she immediately left the store, but now, in the popular Am I the A**hole? subthread, she questioned whether she was really wrong to feed their baby in public.
The unnamed woman, based in the US, took to Reddit to share that she allowed her newborn to cling to her chest during a shopping trip with her husband and mother-in-law
The woman began by telling readers that she was wearing a nursing top at the time, which ‘shows less breast than most women who wear low-cut shirts’.
She elaborated further, explaining: ‘I was at Walmart with my son. I knew he was getting hungry, he had been for some time, but he was very patient.
‘Well, we were about to reach the end of our shopping spree and he just starts to collapse. He’s rooting like nobody’s business and I can’t hold him up anymore.
“He’s determined to get my breasts.”
She explained that she ‘hid herself and let him blink for about five minutes’, but when she returned, she claimed she was confronted by her husband.
He reportedly said he was ‘not comfortable with this’ – pointing to her feeding their son – and asked her ‘not to walk out of Walmart with your breast.’
She revealed that a heated argument ensued in which she said she would sit in the car as her husband ‘sexualized her body while she was feeding her son’.
The woman candidly admitted that the exchange ‘completely crushed her spirit’.
In a follow-up addition to the post, she added: ‘I don’t know if he shared with (her mother-in-law) what was going on.’
She added: ‘I work so hard to take care of our son. To do all the right things.
‘My husband is an amazing partner, but when it comes to this he has a very strange blind spot.
‘He was formula fed. His sister feeds her children strict formula. His mother has a strange perception of breastfeeding because she just couldn’t do it.”
She noted that the couple had not discussed the situation since then.
The loving mother concluded: ‘I just feel tormented by my husband’s ignorance.
‘Recently and now is he expecting more physical intimacy and sex? NOW I can’t even try to be sexual with him after this.’
In a follow-up addition to the post, she added: ‘I don’t know if he shared with (her mother-in-law) what was going on.
“She was in the next aisle and when she overtook us, I demanded our keys from my husband and opened my son and put my chest away.”
The woman admitted the exchange ‘completely crushed her spirit’ (stock photo)
But despite her concerns, people on the web flooded the comments section defending the new mom, sharing that she should feed whenever she wants.
One person said: ‘Formula that feeds mum too and I agree with everything just said! I’m mad at you too! Feeding your child is the most beautiful thing you can ever do!’
‘Another bottle feeding mother here to add to the noise! It’s amazing to be able to feed your baby from your breast, we can’t all do it and everyone who can and does should be supported in it,’ said another user.
Someone else wrote: ‘Your husband needs to find more important things to worry about.’
Another user wrote: ‘Not the a**hole. His response is possessive. He is more concerned that other people will see your breasts than he is that your son was hungry. Which is absolutely unacceptable.
“I suggest you bring it up when you confront him. His priorities must be reoriented to your son’s needs, effective immediately, if he is to be a good father and a supportive husband.’
But despite her concerns, people on the web flooded the comments section defending the new mom, sharing that she should feed whenever she wants
‘Sounds like a guy who always puts himself first, even over his own children. I had such a father. I don’t talk to him much now,” someone else said.
‘Hungry babies need food and there is no better food than breast milk. Men who are uncomfortable with this are uninformed and sexist. I don’t blame you for being angry,” another person wrote.
Someone else said: ‘You feed your child, it’s a normal biological process. Breasts have become so sexualized that some idiots can’t see them as anything other than that. Your husband is strange and insecure.’
Another person said: ‘Your husband is incredibly ignorant. It is literally nature. Almost every mammal nurses their young.’
‘There is nothing sexual about breastfeeding a child. Your husband needs to educate himself. Also, never take your husband on vacation in Europe. He’ll have an aneurysm if he sees topless sunbathers there,’ someone else added.
Someone else said: ‘That man would never see or touch my breasts again if I were in your shoes. Nor any other part of my body. Never. Never. I wouldn’t discuss it with him. Not the hole.’