Welcome to Let Babies Eat
Let Babies Eat is a grass-roots, coordinated effort organized by Latter-day Saints to advocate for women’s breastfeeding rights and evidence-based lactation support. The primary purpose of Let Babies Eat is advocacy to end the discrimination and/or harassment which is sometimes perpetrated against mothers who publicly and openly breastfeed on church property or during church meetings. Let Babies Eat also advocates for improved accommodations in church buildings so that families may better meet the needs of their young children.
Our goals are:
Here at Let Babies Eat, individuals and church leaders will find stories, resources, suggestions, actions, and information about the challenges and triumphs Latter-day Saints experience while feeding their babies at church. |
About Us
The founders of Let Babies Eat seek to improve the worship experience and spiritual lives of parents who attend public meetinghouses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We affirm church teachings about the importance of parents nurturing their children. We advocate for parents and babies. We remind church members and leaders that, in all 50 states in the U.S.A. and in many countries of the world, breastfeeding is a protected right of mothers. We assert that breastfeeding a baby is not sexual, not lewd, not pornographic, and, therefore, requires no censorship beyond the scope of local laws.
Frequently Asked Questions
As attitudes and beliefs about breastfeeding and feeding babies vary among church members and leaders throughout the world, answers to Frequently Asked Questions are provided as a resource to inform those who wish to understand or advocate for mothers and babies.
Tell Your Story
Visit the Our Stories page to read the experiences of Latter-day Saint women who feed their babies at church. Take the survey about the baby-feeding practices of LDS women while attending church meetings. Do you have a story to tell? Please visit our Contact Us page for directions on how to submit your story.
Countless thousands of mothers have been accommodated in church for generations, simply by everyone observing common sense, discretion and respect.
-Church Spokesman Scott Trotter, March 2013
Take Action
For the last decade, LDS women have documented ongoing discrimination and harassment from members, missionaries, and church leaders about their chosen way of feeding their babies while on LDS church property, causing them to feel outcast and unwelcome at church services and visitor's centers.
It is our hope that church leaders at the general level will clarify that nursing women may publicly and openly breastfeed while on church property, in accordance with local law, without additional restrictions. With such clarity, parents will be assured of reliable, respectful treatment by local leaders and members, regardless of church location, and will benefit from the consistency of church policy that aligns with local law.
For a complete list of suggested actions for parents and local leaders, please visit our Take Action page.
It is our hope that church leaders at the general level will clarify that nursing women may publicly and openly breastfeed while on church property, in accordance with local law, without additional restrictions. With such clarity, parents will be assured of reliable, respectful treatment by local leaders and members, regardless of church location, and will benefit from the consistency of church policy that aligns with local law.
For a complete list of suggested actions for parents and local leaders, please visit our Take Action page.