CC woman organizes third Nationwide Nurse-In at state capitol

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

Breastfeeding mothers and supporters experienced a hiccup while nursing inside the Iowa Capitol building last year. After months of organizing the state protest to normalize breastfeeding in public, Charles City resident Amber Schwickerath was surprised when a state worker asked the group of ten to “cover up”.

“She knew what we were doing [and said] …. ‘I thought we had talked about covering up,'” Schwickerath, statewide administrator for the Nationwide Nurse-In, recalled. “She said that right when KCCI was there, and WHO and ABC, so they got their cameras back out.”

Schwickerath said it was the same worker she had been in contact with for the last two months about the Nationwide Nurse-In. That incident prompted statewide media coverage and a public apology from the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.

To Schwickerath, it demonstrated that although breastfeeding in public is legal in Iowa, it still isn’t accepted or normalized for many citizens, she said.

“It’s the law that women can breastfeed everywhere. A lot of moms get harassed, ‘go do that somewhere else,’ or ‘cover up,'” Schwickerath said. “Have you ever tried to nurse a baby that doesn’t want to cover up? They’re just going to take that blanket off of them.”

“If you only stayed home and breastfed, you would never leave. It’s like every one and half to two hours,” she added.

Schwickerath and other state administrators are preparing for the 2017 demonstration this Friday. In Iowa, the demonstration will take place in the first floor Capitol Rotunda from 12-2 p.m. in Des Moines. Schwickerath started volunteering for the event after she began breastfeeding her son, and joined the Charles City breastfeeding support group BreastFriends.

The group meets every fourth Wednesday of the month from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Floyd County Medical Center’s Veterans Room. The group is led by consultant Sonni Martzahn and offers mothers breastfeeding advice and support from other women going through the process. Pregnant moms are invited to attend as well if they are interested in breastfeeding.

“Breastfeeding is very scary, especially in the beginning if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Schwickerath said. “I think a lot of moms in Charles City would say that the BreastFriends group has helped them succeed in their breastfeeding journey.”

Schwickerath has a lactation certification which allows her to counsel women beginning the breastfeeding process, although she doesn’t currently work as a counselor at a medical office.

“I’m more knowledgable now than I was a year ago,” she said.

For Friday, Schwickerath will be providing snacks and prizes for women, children and supporters who participate. The group can be found on Facebook as @Nationwide Nurse-In Iowa, and the national page is @Nationwide Nurse-In Events and Breastfeeding Laws.

“There are people who will give you dirty looks — that’s because not enough people do it out in public,” Schwickerath said. “People don’t really see it, so they don’t really know about it, but it’s our right, and it’s the law that we can breastfeed in public anywhere we want.”