Hi-

My name is Zoe and I am 10 years old. I think that breastfeeding shouldn’t be hidden because it’s a natural thing and if it’s natural it should be open. Everybody knows what it is, so it shouldn’t be embarrassing and if you feel embarrassed you can use a blanket or towel over the baby’s head or you could go into a private place to nurse. I don’t think people should give formula to babies because it’s not the real thing and it might have icky stuff in it and if you nurse from yourself it won’t have weird chemicals because it’s just from you! At the same time when you nurse, the baby gets to snuggle with you and gets to know you better and if you just give them a bottle they just do it themselves without the snuggles. What I’m going to do when I’m an adult, if I can, I will nurse my babies because I like natural things the most. Thanks for listening to my thoughts.

The above essay is submitted by Zoe Chinn, age 10, who lives in St. Paul, MN with her parents, a big sister, one cat, and a guinea pig.