Nursing mothers find friendlier shopping; workplaces might be next

Less than an hour after the nursing mothers' lounge opened Thursday at Citadel Mall, Dana Keith made a beeline toward the cozy room with her 5-month-old baby and 2-year-old in tow.

Keith and her husband were visiting from Port Royal when they saw the sign outside the mall announcing the new lounge. She hadn't seen such a lounge since their recent move from Colorado.

"People are a little rude. They stare," she said. "But it's what you should be doing."

Giving women an alternative to the bathroom and the stares is the purpose of the Medical University of South Carolina's Women's Services Nursing Mothers' Lounge, located in the mall's food court.

In 2005, Roper St. Francis Healthcare and Belk joined forces to open four mothers' lounges at area Belk department stores, including Belk at Citadel Mall.

More than two years have passed since South Carolina passed a law guaranteeing women the right to nurse their children in public without interference from business owners or law enforcement.

The S.C. Breastfeeding Coalition is forging ahead with more legislation, this time focusing on employers. The proposed law, among other measures, would require employers with more than 25 employees have a written policy supporting women who want to continue breastfeeding when returning to work.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.