Mom nurses baby on TV
2003-09-18 11:03
Australia - A talk show host has breastfed her new son on live national television, angering some viewers but winning praise from the medical profession.
Kate Langbroek nursed her newborn, Lewis, on The Panel late night programme when she returned from maternity leave on Wednesday.
Viewers were mixed about the display, the Ten Network said on Thursday.
"It was definitely split," a network spokesperson said. "Some people were very supportive ... others were of course having a bit of a hissy."
One high profile physician applauded Langbroek and dismissed unease over public breastfeeding as old fashioned. Medical research says infants benefit from their mothers' milk, and that breastfeeding could lower the risk of breast cancer.
"We need people who are brave and to go out there and make a public statement," said Dr Ingrid Tall, Queensland state president of the Australian Medical Association.
"They make it easier for the rest of us to follow through, so congratulations to her. People have to get over the embarrassment or concern about breasts being publicly displayed in this context," Tall added.
Australians seem divided over the issue. Earlier this year Victorian state lawmaker Kirsty Marshall, a former champion aerial skier, was asked to leave the parliamentary chamber when she began feeding her baby.
- AP