A New Initiative Aims to Make Restaurants Hospitable for Breastfeeding Parents | Eater

"A Chicago-based organization launched an initiative called Room at the Table to offer training and support to restaurants and their employees on how to make their dining rooms more welcoming to children and people who are breastfeeding. "From my personal experience, those weeks after you have your baby, you’re so alone and isolated, and all you want to do is feel normal," says Ashley Farrow, the Network’s chief marketing officer. "You don’t know where you can go with your kids, you don’t know where you’re going to feel safe and respected." The program aims to educate workers on the legalities of breastfeeding across the country (49 states have enshrined protections for breastfeeding parents into law) and to offer practical guidance on navigating tricky situations—what to do if another customer complains about someone breastfeeding, how to offer hot water to help warm a child’s bottle, and other low-effort accommodations. Farrow notes, "Breastfeeding is still seen as something that’s inappropriate, and so people think that it has to be done behind closed doors," and adds, "We wanted to make it as low-lift as possible for a restaurant, because if it’s easy to implement, people can actually make it work." "The idea was to give them the confidence to welcome these patrons, and offer insight into how to accommodate any special requests and just educate restaurants on what new parents are going through," she says. Restaurants that join receive a window sticker signaling a welcoming space for breastfeeding parents; so far about 50 restaurants have signed up, with early participants in the home city and growing interest from places in Austin, Durham, and Denver." - Amy McCarthy